Announcing Elections for next TDF Membership Committee

Dear Community,

we hereby officially announce the upcoming elections for the next
Membership Committee of The Document Foundation.

As per § 12 II of our statutes, [1] the Membership Committee's term
lasts two years. The current Membership Committee started its duty on
September 19, 2016. Therefore, the old Membership Committee remains in
charge until the end of September 18, 2018, so the new MC will be in
charge the day after that, which is September 19, 2018.

That upcoming term will then (regularly) end on September 18, 2020, so
the next elections of the Membership Committee will take place before.

As per § 6 III, only members of the Board of Trustees of The Document
Foundation, as well as current members of any of its bodies, are
eligible to be elected into the Membership Committee, and the election
is overseen by the Board of Directors (§ 12 II).

The active electoral right is reserved to those who have been members of
the Board of Trustees before this announcement (§ 12 II).

§ 6 III also states that members of the Board of Directors or their
deputies may not be members of the Membership Committee and vice versa.

There is one more notable limitation: Per § 8 IV of the statutes, a
maximum of 1/3 members of the Membership Committee is allowed to work on
an employment basis for the same company, organization, entities,
affiliates or subdivisions.

Nomination of candidates fulfilling the above requirements, as well as
self nomination is welcome. In total, at least five members of the
Membership Committee members are required, and given there are enough
candidates, up to four deputies can be elected based on the last board
decision on this matter. As deputies are on duty quite often, we
encourage many candidates to participate.

Re-election of current members of the Membership Committee is explicitly
permitted (§ 12 II).

Please send nominations and self-nominations via e-mail to
elections@documentfoundation.org (which reaches the Board of Directors
in private) and also (!) to board-discuss@documentfoundation.org (which
is a public mailing list).

We kindly ask nominees who would like to stand for elections to provide
a statement of up to 75 words on their candidacy as continuous text (so
no bullet lists or multiple paragraphs). In addition, please also
provide your full name, e-mail address and your corporate affiliation,
if any, and please announce that you will provide information on all
future changes as soon as possible. Specifically, please indicate all
information regarding § 8 IV of the statutes.

Discussions with the candidates and questions to them as well as
questions about the elections should take place on the public
board-discuss@documentfoundation.org mailing list. For details on how to
use the mailing list, see
https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/

Eligible voters will receive further details via e-mail prior to the
start of elections, including a summary of the candidates, details on
how to access the voting system, and instructions on how to
independently verify the vote count. Please ensure we have your recent
and correct e-mail address on file. For questions, you can reach the
Board of Directors in private at elections@documentfoundation.org

Following the time line set forth in § 12 II, requiring a 45 day advance
notice, we hereby announce the following time line for the elections:

1. 2018-07-17: announcement of the elections; and start of the
nomination phase
2. 2018-08-27, 24:00 CEST/UTC+2: end of the nomination phase (one week
before the election starts, as per § 12 II)
3. 2018-09-04, 00:00 CEST/UTC+2: official start of the elections (at
least 45 days after announcement of the elections, as per § 12 II)
4. 2018-09-10, 24:00 CEST/UTC+2: end of the elections
5. 2018-09-11: announcement of the preliminary results and
acknowledgement of role
6. 2018-09-12, 00:00 CEST/UTC+2: start of the challenging phase
7. 2018-09-14, 24:00 CEST/UTC+2: end of the challenging phase
8. afterwards: official announcement of the final results
9. 2018-09-19: new Membership Committee officially in charge

Be advised that the newly elected Membership Committee will only be in
charge beginning from September 19, 2018.

Challenges to this election announcement with respect to the deadlines
outlined have to happen no later than seven (7) days after this
announcement, via e-mail to elections@documentfoundation.org (which
reaches the Board of Directors in private).

Challenges to the preliminary results of the election have to happen
until the deadline set forth above, via e-mail to
elections@documentfoundation.org (which reaches the Board of Directors
in private).

On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Marina Latini

[1] https://www.documentfoundation.org/satzung.pdf (binding version) and
https://www.documentfoundation.org/statutes.pdf (non-binding translation)

Dear community,

The next step of the Membership Committee election is approaching and the end of the nomination phase is:

  *** 2018-08-27, 24:00 CEST/UTC+2: end of the nomination phase
      (one week before the election starts, as per § 12 II) ***

At this page[0] you can find an overview of the duties of the MC and some details about the activity done by the group.

This election is one of the most important moment of the democratic life of our Foundation.
In 2010 we created the new, independent and community driven home for our projects, following the shared values of The Next Decade Manifesto[1].

Now you have the opportunity to stand up and make the difference for continuing the great job already done by the past MC members[2].

Don't be shy, stand up and make the difference!

[0] https://elections.documentfoundation.org/overview-mc.html
[1] https://www.documentfoundation.org/foundation/overview/
[2] https://www.documentfoundation.org/governance/mc/

Sincerely yours,
Marina

Dear Community,

you have few hours left for casting your vote, as the voting phase will end today

   2018-09-10, 24:00 CEST/UTC+2 (i.e. end of the day 10).

You received your Membership Committee Elections Voting Token from the sender

  "elections@documentfoundation.org".

With the election you have the opportunity to express your preferences and elect your representatives at the Membership Committee. Don't loose this opportunity and take an active part in the daily life of The Document Foundation.

Your vote can make the difference!

Sincerely yours,
Marina