[Chapter-delegates] The results of the recent polls regarding two issues from the Puerto Rico Chapter and the proposed test for transmission to the BoT.

Sun Jul 7 07:54:37 PDT 2024

Hello Ed,

A majority (according to the Meriam-Webster Dictionary) is defined as "a number or percentage equaling more than half of a total", in this case as there were 101 chapters with a "right to vote" this majority number would be 51 (as this is more than 50% of the eligible voting chapters), i.e. a minimum of 51 chapters must have voted "YES" in order to request a formal response from the Board of Trustees. As this requirement was not met, the ChAC-SC is unable to request a formal response. Having said that, as Cheryl has advised given that a majority was reached in the number of respondents, they proposed sending a recommendation to the BoT.
The term "majority" is not explicitly defined in the Rules and Procedures and is thus subject to interpretation, creating ambiguity.
In order to avoid interpretation and ambiguity, it would be an argument/defense to use the definition of a word from a recognised and published dictionary (e.g. Collins, Oxford, Meriam-Webster).

As you said, 7.5 of the ChAC charter reads: "Formal votes, which shall be by a majority of those present at the meeting, are only to be used if rough consensus cannot be reached". This poll/vote was not taken during a meeting; it was an email sent out to chapters who were entitled to cast a vote in the poll. As such, 7.5 does not apply.
Therefore, the consensus poll, equated here to a formal vote, is valid under Section 7.5 of the ChAC Charter.
This is not the case. This is not a valid vote under 7.5 of the ChAC charter as this poll/vote was not taken during a ChAC meeting.

While there was strong support from those who did vote/poll, it does not meet the requirements to trigger a formal reply from the BoT. Having said this (and as mentioned earlier), the ChAC-SC recognises the strong support from those who voted and as a result will request a reply from the BoT. Unless a new vote/poll is held and it is verified that each eligible voting chapter has received their virtual ballot paper, this is as good as it's going to get.

Regards,
Christopher Hawker

P.S. To avoid any ambiguity, I do not have an opinion regarding challenging the interpretation of the polling results and this email is simply to clarify some definitions, which may make things easier to understand. I am also not affiliated with the ChAC-SC, BoT, or any other ISOC mechanism other than my position on the board for the Australian chapter. This is also sent in my personal capacity.
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From: Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org> on behalf of Eduardo Diaz via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Sent: Monday, July 8, 2024 12:10 AM
To: Greg Shatan <greg at isoc-ny.org>
Cc: 0F9Dn000000QayiKAC at post.dn-71ceimaa.usa576.chatter.salesforce.com <0F9Dn000000QayiKAC at post.dn-71ceimaa.usa576.chatter.salesforce.com>; ISOC Chapter Delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] The results of the recent polls regarding two issues from the Puerto Rico Chapter and the proposed test for transmission to the BoT.

Dear ChAC-SC,

ISOC Puerto Rico Board formally challenges the interpretation of the recent polling results regarding the two proposals submitted by our chapter to the ChAC-SC. The current stance, which prevents these proposals from being sent as formal advice due to an alleged insufficient participation level, is based on a misinterpretation of our governing documents.

The phrase “…which shall be by a majority of those with rights to vote…” in Section 6 of the ChAC Rules and Procedures (ChAC RoPs) was intended to include only chapters in good standing with a designated ChAC delegate. The term "majority" is not explicitly defined in the Rules and Procedures and is thus subject to interpretation, creating ambiguity. Section 10 of the same document addresses such ambiguities: “In any case of ambiguity... the provision of the [ChAC] Charter shall prevail.”

The ChAC Charter (ChAC C), Section 7.5, clearly states: “Formal votes, which shall be by a majority of those present at the meeting, are only to be used if rough consensus cannot be reached.” This means the participants, not the entire electorate, are counted for formal votes.

Therefore, the consensus poll, equated here to a formal vote, is valid under Section 7.5 of the ChAC Charter. Both proposals received majority support from those who participated, thus meeting the requirements for formal advice submission. Treating these as recommendations undermines the Charter’s intent.

ISOC Puerto Rico Board insists that both proposals be transmitted to the ISOC Board as formal advice.

-ed

On Thu, Jul 4, 2024 at 7:29 PM Cheryl Langdon-Orr via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org<mailto:chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>> wrote:
The message you find attached outlines the procedures and results of the poll conducted by the Chapters Advisory Council (ChAC) of the Internet Society, conducted via Survey Monkey between June 17th and July 1st, and aimed to gather support for two proposals from the Puerto Rico Chapter among the 101 Chapters with voting rights. The first proposal was to open the Chapter Delegate email list to all Chapter Members as observers, while the second was to reinstate funding for the ISOC LIVE video and archiving services.

The results showed that while a majority of responding Chapters supported both proposals, the required level of support for approval required by the ChAC Rules and Procedures for sending advice to the Board of Trustees still needs to be reached. Specifically, 66.04% voted in favour of the first proposal, and for the second, 88.68% voted in favour. However, due to the rules requiring a majority of all eligible Chapters to vote 'yes,' the proposals still need to pass.

Despite the ChAC being unable to send “formal advice” to the Board of Trustees, the ChAC Steering Committee is taking a proactive step. We propose sending a “recommendation” to the BoT regarding the two proposals since their approval was clear among the poll respondents.

I've included more details in the attached PDF. If you need additional information or access to the specific results and discussions, we have also included below reference links to summaries and presentations available on Box.com.

Cheryl Langdon-Orr,
Chair 2024 of the ChAC -SC

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Cheryl Langdon-Orr
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