Voting Committee Operating Procedures
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The Voting Committee’s primary objective is to serve:
1) The proponents of a motion by providing a transparent structure for putting their ideas for change to the members; and
2) The wider membership by presenting the membership with a vote text and voting options that are clear, concise, and balanced.
The draft Voting Committee Operating Procedures were discussed by the members in an article discussion thread on 8-10 July 2008. Subsequently, minor adjustments were made, and the final draft was approved by the Board.
[edit] Definitions §1
The Voting Committee: The Voting Committee (“VC”) is a collective of members instituted under the resolution of the MyFC Society (“the Society”) which approved the Procedure for Instigating a Vote of the Membership (“the Voting Procedure”).
Voting Committee Operating Procedures: are a set of rules that define how the Voting Committee will be tasked by the Board to fulfill the role for which it was selected (“the Operating Procedure”).
The Procedure for Instigating a Vote of the Membership: is a procedure which members and the Board shall follow in order to bring a proposal and vote before the membership of MyFC. The Procedure for Instigating a Vote of the Membership (“the Voting Procedure”). was approved by members on the 12 May 2008.
Motion: a proposal that has reached the threshold as defined in Voting Procedure §7 and has been published in accordance with Voting Procedure §8. Becomes an item for debate in accordance with Voting Procedure §9
Resolution: a motion that has passed a vote of the membership in accordance with Voting Procedure §11
(The) Board: has the same meaning as in the Rules of the Society
[edit] Applicability §2
None of this document is intended to change the criteria for voting on any issues that have already been prescribed in the Society’s rules.
[edit] Powers §3
The powers of the VC are derived directly from the Voting and Operating Procedures, and all decisions taken in accordance with them shall be binding.
[edit] Composition §4
The Voting Committee (“VC”) shall be comprised of three Full members and three Reserve members.
The MyFC Society Board (“the Board”) shall invite members of the Society to apply for membership of the VC.
Upon consideration of the applicants, taking into account their suitability for the position, the Board shall make a Recommendation for the composition of the VC to the Society, at which point the Recommended applicants become VC Designates.
[edit] Ratification §5
The Recommendation of the Board shall be subject to a Vote of ratification by the membership of the Society.
The Vote shall specify which members are being appointed as Full members and which as Reserve members.
The Vote shall last for a period of seven days. Members will be asked to approve or reject the Recommendation as a package vote. Approval or rejection shall be decided based upon a simple majority of votes cast (excluding abstentions).
In the event of approval, the VC Designates shall become members of the VC.
In the event of rejection, the Board shall return to §4 above and repeat this process until a VC is approved.
In the event of two consecutive rejections, the Board shall reserve the right to appoint interim members of the VC in order to facilitate the continued operation of the Procedure.
[edit] Re-ratification §6
The membership of the VC shall be subject to a re-ratification process on the anniversary of the original ratification vote. At this time, the Board may exercise its right to change the composition of the VC by inviting members of the Society to apply and existing VC members to reapply.
[edit] Changes in VC membership during tenure §7
The membership of the VC should not ordinarily change during its yearly appointment tenure except under the following conditions.
a. Members of the VC shall be permitted to resign at any time.
In the event of such a resignation from the Full members, the replacement shall be appointed from one of the Reserve members, and the Board shall be entitled to name any interested member of the Society as a replacement Reserve member. The newly appointed member does not have to be subject to a ratification vote.
In the event of such a resignation from the Reserve members, the Board shall be entitled to name any interested member of the Society as a replacement Reserve member. The newly appointed member does not have to be subject to a ratification vote.
b. Individual members of the VC shall be required to resign if subject to a motion of no confidence.
A motion of no confidence shall only be approved by the VC and the Board in tandem with two separate majorities on each body (excluding the member subject to the motion of no confidence)
[edit] VC Coordination and Communication §8
The members of the VC shall be required to avail themselves of an appropriate medium via which they shall keep in frequent and regular contact. Members of the Board and the Ebbsfleet CEO shall also be entitled to take part in the VC’s chosen communication method.
[edit] VC decision making §9
The three Full members of the VC shall be the Primary Decision Group (“PDG”). Members of the PDG shall be entitled to vote on procedural decisions regarding Draft Proposals, Proposals and Motions.
The three Reserve members of the VC shall be entitled to take part in debate but they shall not be entitled to vote on any procedural decisions regarding Draft Proposals, Proposals and Motions.
8a. The PDG
The three Full members who comprise the PDG shall take all decisions regarding Draft Proposals, Proposals and Motions.
It is expected that the PDG will work together on each Draft Proposal, Proposal or Motion, making decisions by majority as appropriate.
The PDG shall decide, by majority, in which order the submitted Draft Proposals shall be considered. In addition to the order of submission, they shall take into account any proposals which may have time constraints or other relevant factors.
[edit] Dealing with Draft Proposals, Proposals and Motions §10
The PDG, or one of its members, shall liaise with proponents to ensure their Draft Proposal, Proposal and Motion meets the criteria as set out in §5 of the Voting Procedure.
In the event of more than one Draft Proposal being submitted covering the same or similar topics, including from opposite perspectives, the PDG, or one of its members, shall liaise with each proponent to formulate a mutually agreeable unified Draft Proposal with as many alternative voting options as is deemed desirable. The PDG’s decision shall be final.
Draft Proposals, Proposals or Motions shall not be in the form of a question. They shall make a clear statement regarding an idea or suggested action for MyFC or Ebbsfleet United FC to embark upon.
The PDG shall decide the scheduling of Proposals, debates on Motions and votes on Motions at their discretion.
The VC, in consultation with the Board, may advise proponents as to the practical implications of a Draft Proposal, Proposal or Motion.
[edit] Dealing with votes §11
The PDG shall be responsible for wording the vote on a Motion. The wording of both the vote text and the vote options should be clear, concise and balanced.
The PDG shall be responsible for deciding the appropriate method of voting system to calculate the result of any vote.
[edit] Conflicts of interest §12
To avoid conflicts of interest, members of the VC shall excuse themselves from all due process regarding Draft Proposals, Proposals, or Motions proposed by them in a personal capacity. In such circumstances, the VC shall be entitled to replace the excused member where appropriate from the Reserve members.
The VC are members of the Society and as such the VC are free to publicly discuss, promote, and second a Draft Proposal without necessarily recusing themselves from the Procedure on an issue. However, the VC must strive to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, and will be expected to establish a review step to establish any potential conflict prior to giving an issue Proposal status. Where a conflict is deemed to arise, the VC shall be entitled to replace a member with a Reserve member.
Members of the VC shall not be members of any other elected or employed team or committee associated with the Society or the Operator. This includes the Web Team, Forum Team, and Society Board.
[edit] Absence §13
In the event of a Full member of the VC notifying fellow members of a forthcoming absence of two days or more, a Reserve member of the VC shall be entitled to stand-in, assuming all the powers of a Full member (i.e. PDG status), until the return of the Full member, at which point the status quo shall be restored.
In the event of unexpected/unexplained absence from a Full member of the VC for a period of four days or more, the absent Full member shall be temporarily replaced by a Reserve member. The Reserve member shall assume all the powers of a Full member (i.e. PDG status), until the return of the absent Full member, at which point the status quo shall be restored.
The choice of which Reserve member shall replace the Full member shall be one for the Reserve members to make.
Should a member of the VC fail to keep in regular contact with the remainder of the VC without adequate explanation, the Board shall be entitled to declare any non-contactable member to have resigned their place and shall proceed to replace the member in accordance with §7 above.
[edit] Provisions for excess workload §14
In the event of the PDG being unable to deal with a backlog of Proposals, the PDG may ask the Board to temporarily promote the Reserve members of the VC to Full members.
The promoted Reserve members shall be a Secondary Decision Group (“SDG”) which will operate in tandem with the PDG and in accordance with the procedures in §9, §10 and §11 (with all PDG references being construed to refer to the SDG where appropriate).
The SDG shall be withdrawn and its members shall resume their Reserve member status upon the resolution of any backlog.
[edit] Arbitration §15
In the event of there being a dispute on the VC which the members are unable to resolve, a decision shall be taken by the Board whose ruling shall be final.
