Counting took place on Saturday 20 February. Emma Byrne and Neil McGovern were duly elected. Results and the ERO's statement are on our blog here.
Any questions on the process should be directed to Turn on JavaScript!.
| 13 November 2009 | - | Election timetable formally announced |
| 27 November 2009 | - | Opening of nominations |
| 4 January 2010 | - | Nominations closed (written consent from any nominee must have been received by this date) |
| 11 January 2010 | - | Last date for candidates to submit their campaign packs |
| 18 January 2010 | - | Ballot papers sent out to supporters |
| 15 February 2010 | - | Close of ballot |
| 20 February 2010 | - | Count followed by an announcement of the result |
1 Electorate
The electorate will be defined as ORG supporting subscribers, as recorded in the ORG supporter database, who have either:
(i) paid an annual subscription within 14 months of the open of nominations date;
(ii) paid a quarterly subscription within 5 months of the open of nominations date; or
(iii) paid a monthly subscription within 3 months of the open of nominations date.
2 Positions to be elected
Two seats on the Open Rights Group’s Board will be open for election, to be appointed for a two year period. Members of the Board also have the right to attend ORG’s Advisory Council.
Duties of Board members are detailed separately. These must be accepted in writing by candidates for their nomination to be declared valid.
3 Electoral Returning Officer (ERO)
The Open Rights Group’s Executive Director will appoint an ERO, who shall be an ORG supporter, but shall not be a member of ORG’s Board or Advisory Council nor a candidate for election to the ORG Board.
4 Schedule
The opening of nominations will be announced to ORG supporters with at least 2 weeks notice. Nominations will close at least 2 weeks after their opening. Nominations must open at least two months before the expiry of the term of existing elected Board Members.
To be included in information packs sent to the electorate, candidate statements, photos and video statements will have to be provided no more than a week after the close of nominations.
Ballots will be sent out to the electorate within two weeks of the close of nominations.
The date for the return of ballots must be set at least two weeks after their sending, and no more than four weeks.
The count date will be no more than one week after the close of ballots at a location announced to the electorate where any candidate or elector can attend to observe the count.
5 Nominations
Nominations are open to any member of the electorate. Nominations require the written consent of the nominee, a proposer and a seconder.
Nominations and consent can be sent by post or email from an email address recorded as belonging to that individual in the ORG supporter database. The names of nominees and their backers will be published to rule out spoofing.
Nominations must be sent to the ERO before the close of nominations and include a valid declaration of accepting the Boards’ duties.
6 Publication of the election
All members of the electorate must be informed of the election timetable to the best of ORG’s ability.
The ERO will email or write to the electorate, according to their preference as recorded in the ORG supporter database.
7 Campaigning
ORG will provide for standard election activities. Official campaigning will be limited to:
(i) An opportunity for a video statement of up to two minutes hosted on an ORG web page;
(ii) An email from the ERO to all opted-in supporters with an email address, linking to a web page with contact details of the candidates, the video statements, and text statements and photographs.
(iii) A candidate statement of 400 words or less and a photograph, plus candidate contact details for private communications, plus the URL of the video statements and elections web page, given to all supporters with the ballot papers;
(iv) An email list, for ORG supporters to opt into, to hear answers to their questions. Questions will be sent to the ERO and forwarded by the ERO. Questions will be allowed to the list at the ERO’s discretion.
Campaigning will not take place on ORG lists other than the designated list described in point iv above. These rules do not restrict candidates’ freedom of expression in other fora such as networking sites and public meetings.
The ERO shall have the power to cancel an election if a candidate or someone acting on their behalf is found to have brought ORG into disrepute or has acted unfairly against another candidate(s). The ERO’s decision will be final but will be in consultation with ORG’s Chair and Executive Director.
8 The Ballot and count
The ballot count will be conducted by multi-member Single Transferable Vote (STV). Re-open Nominations (RON) will be a ‘protected’ candidate, ie, will not be eliminated at any stage.
Ballot papers will be sent by post and returned to Open Rights Group’s offices, marked ‘FAO the Electoral Returning Officer’. They will be opened, checked for validity and counted only on the declared date of the count in view of any candidates and electors wishing to observe.
