SHORT FORM: ----------- Elections for the Fedora Project Board open at 0001 UTC on 13 June 2008 -- or about 3.5 hours from the time of this message. The voting system is available at: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/voting
The voting system uses the range voting method: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_voting
Any FAS account holder who has completed the CLA may vote in the election. Voting is open until 2359 UTC on 22 June 2008. Election results will be announced shortly thereafter. The final appointed seat on the Board will be filled after the general election as well.
Thank you to all the Board members whose seats are up for election, to Nigel Jones for our new voting application, and to the community in advance, for casting their votes for Fedora leadership.
LONG FORM (including nominees and other background): ---------------------------------------------------- Recently we converted one Red Hat-appointed seat to a community-elected seat, so there are now five (5) elected seats and four (4) appointed seats. To even out the Board turnover, community members have the opportunity to vote for four (4) elected seats in this election. The elected person with the fourth-highest vote total will serve a half-length term, with that seat being back up for election after the release of Fedora 10. In addition, Karsten Wade's appointment has been extended by six months. This means that after the release of Fedora 10, we will elect two seats and appoint two seats, thus returning to a turnover of roughly half the Board after each release of Fedora.
The seats of current Board members Jef Spaleta, Dennis Gilmore, Chris Aillon, and Bob McWhirter are being vacated in this election. In addition, the seats of Steve Dickson and Seth Vidal, Board members appointed by Red Hat, are also being vacated. Steve is to be succeeded by Harald Hoyer, and the final appointment will be announced after the general Board elections are over. I would like to thank each of these people for the time and effort they've put into vigorously representing the entire Fedora community on the Board.
The processes are documented on the Fedora wiki at: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Board/Elections In the past few days, the Board and I realized that our guidelines hadn't been updated to match the current FAS implementation, so I've updated them appropriately with the approval of the Board.
The election system has changed from approval voting to range voting, but no actual changes have been made in voting requirements. The wording on the wiki has been changed to accurately reflect how the new Fedora Account System works.
The nominees for the four elected seats, in no particular order, are:
Jon Stanley (jds2001) Tom Callaway (spot) Josh Boyer (jwb) Jonathan Roberts (JonRob) Seth Vidal (skvidal) Dennis Gilmore (irc:dgilmore fas:ausil) Jef Spaleta (irc:spoleeba fas:jspaleta) Jesse Keating (irc:f13 fas:jkeating)
Note that you do not have to cast a vote blindly -- you can feel free to ask questions of the candidates. Email them, or feel free to ask your questions on a list they frequent, such as the fedora-advisory-board list: http://redhat.com/archives/fedora-advisory-board
The nominees have also placed some summary information about their background and goals on the wiki nominations page: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Board/Elections/Nominations
These summaries are also available from the "Info" link next to each candidate's name in the voting system.
To cast your vote, visit: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/voting
If you have any problems with voting, report them immediately in the ticket system, at: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/tickets Use the "elections" category when you file your ticket so that it is directed quickly to the appropriate parties.
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I'd like everyone voting to remember that this isn't a popularity contest, or a reward system. Think about how you'd like to Board to look when you vote, the same way you think about how you'd like any government body to look when you cast votes for their elections. We have a lot of worthy candidates on this list, and you should pick the ones that you feel will best represent you in advancing the Fedora Project.
This is one of numerous ways in which our community makes decisions about the leadership of Fedora. Your vote counts, and I hope you take advantage of it.
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