[chapter-delegates] e-voting system for ISOC board

[Richard StClair]

James,

I think you're looking for a perfect solution when an imperfect 
solution would work just fine.

We're not talking about electing a US president. We're just talking 
about the ISOC community at large having a say in what ISOC does.  Some 
form of vote for each member, paying or not, is still the answer. And I 
don't think it's over complicated.

Rich


On Mar 18, 2005, at 8:53, James M Galvin wrote:

> Franck,
>
> E-voting is hard.  I know this.  I'm a technologist and I've devoted 
> considerable resources to understanding the problem and the potential 
> solutions.
>
> Consider the issue of identity.  In a physical voting system we accept 
> certain flaws in identifying people because we apply procedures 
> commonly referred to as "check and balances".  These procedures 
> include things like witnesses, physical signatures, and physical 
> presence among other things.  We know the system is not perfect but it 
> is pretty good and in general it is extremely difficult to bias or 
> swing an election.  In essence, there exists a trusted infrastructure 
> within which the election takes place.
>
> That trusted infrastructure does not exist on the Internet.  It might 
> be possible to create it, but then you will find it is not possible to 
> have one that works everywhere, all the time.  People expect ISOC to 
> ensure that it reaches out to everyone, all the time.  We certainly do 
> try but you have to admit it can be difficult some times.
>
> Even without that issue, it is a significant undertaking to build a 
> trust infrastructure.  It is not something that you can just "turn on" 
> one day. It will take time, perhaps years, for it to include a 
> majority of our members.
>
> My request for proposals was not a trick.  It was a serious question.  
> I have read all the suggestions to date but I simply do not have the 
> time to respond to each and every one.  I was hoping that someone 
> would feel really excited about their suggestion and they would want 
> both to repeat it and to fill out some of the details.  Principles 
> always sound like good ideas until you get into the implementation 
> details.  Besides, I may have overlooked something so getting help is 
> a good thing.
>
> Jim
>
> PS.  Consider too, that if e-voting were easy, everybody would already 
> be doing it.  And by that I mean a system that scales to tens of 
> thousands of people with little if any manual intervention and works 
> everywhere in the world.
>
>
>
>
> --On Wednesday, March 16, 2005 11:54 AM +1200 Franck Martin 
> <franck at sopac.org> wrote:
>
>> James,
>>
>> Nice trick ;)
>>
>> I know it too. It is called send back the work to the person who asked
>> for it..
>>
>> So here is my trick:
>>
>> Please review the whole thread because numerous propositions were made
>> on how to make a free member vote. You may have missed all these
>> discussions but hey, we have an archive! ;) ( I give you a hint,
>> because I'm really nice with you, it has to do with the indonesia
>> chapter)
>>
>> And here I pull the rabbit from the hat:
>> As VP Chapters and I'm sure there is a VP membership, the onus is on
>> YOU to propose us a system. Members give objectives to the board and
>> the board implements them (not the other way). I think there is
>> sufficient literature out there for you to come with an acceptable
>> system, where a member will be identified (not by money) and given a
>> right to vote for one or more representatives.
>>
>> We are making progress...  :)
>>
>> Cheers
>> PS: Assume you are lucky, because I did not ask you to do a state of
>> the art in e-voting and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of
>> each system in regards to ISOC
>>
>> James M Galvin wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >
>> > --On Wednesday, March 16, 2005 10:25 AM +1200 Franck Martin
>> > <franck at sopac.org> wrote:
>> >
>> >> the heart of the problem is that! one member = one vote
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > So, let's explore this.  In detail.
>> >
>> > If you have a suggestion for how we can achieve this let me ask that
>> > you do the following.
>> >
>> > Please start a new message with a relevant subject line for each
>> > suggestion.  I will promise to participate in a detailed discussion
>> > of  each suggestion so we can explore whether or not it will work 
>> for
>> > ISOC.
>> >
>> > Jim Galvin
>> > VP Chapters
>
>
>
>

-- 
Regards,
Richard St Clair,
Co-Founder & Internet Evangelist,
Internet Users Society Niue, APTLD Board Member
--------------------------------------------
stclair at niue.nu www.niue.nu Fax 683-4624
Niue Island, South Pacific 169 West 19 South
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IT Policy: "Leave the geeks alone and everything will be fine".