View source for Reps/Council/Elections

{{Admon/note | Note | This page is currently being updated - stay tuned!}}

== Overview ==

Every 6 months, 3 or 4 Mozilla Reps (depending on the election cycle) are elected to sit on the Mozilla Reps Council (aka ReMo Council or aka the "Jedi Council") for a 1 year term. The elections ensure that the program stays true to its core values of participation, accountability and transparency. 

All Mozilla Reps Council members who are elected to the council agree to [[ReMo/Structure_Governance#Council|the following responsibilities]].

== Election Rules ==

===Voters===

* All active Mozilla Reps who have a profile page on the [http://reps.mozilla.org Mozilla Reps Portal] are eligible to exercise their right to vote. 

=== Voting ===

* Voting is done via a special page on the the Portal and each Rep can cast a vote only once per election.

* The elections shall utilize [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_voting Range Voting], where each voter will assign a score from 0 to N to each candidate (where N is the number of candidates). A voter abstains from voting by assigning a score of 0 to any number of candidates. (More information on how to cast a ballot [[ReMo/Council/Elections/Ballot_casting|here]])

* With the exception of the system administrators, no one shall be able to associate a Rep to a vote, thus voting is anonymous.

* A Rep cannot, under any circumstance, use another Rep's account to vote. Any Rep found undermining the sanctity of the elections shall be removed from the program, after investigation by the Council.

* Reps shall be given 72 hours to cast their vote after the elections have commenced. Voting beging at 12pm UTC on Day 0 and closed at 12pm UTC on Day 3.  

* No vote shall be counted after the prescribed voting period.

=== Candidates ===

Only Mozilla Reps who have had experience mentoring (ie. being a Mentor) are eligible to self-nominate themselves as candidates for a Council seat. After self-nomination, the Council will review the Mentor's eligibility based on the following criteria:

* Proficiency in English
* Responsiveness to address issues/bugs
* Availability for extra Council duties (eg. chairing, staff meetings, work weeks etc...)
* Experience and past performance as a Rep and as a Mentor
* Ability to travel

If, after the review of self-nominations period is finished, and there are as many candidates as there are seats available on the Council, each candidate will be assigned a seat and no election will be held. 

After the self-nominated Rep is cleared by the Council, (s)he will be officially declared as an  candidate by the Council. 

If a self-nominated Rep is not cleared by the Council to run for election, (s)he cannot appeal that decision.

=== Campaigning ===

* Candidates are given '''10 days''' to campaign and communicate their agenda, plans, achievements as a Rep/Mentor, and personal strengths, to the Mozilla Reps voting body.

* Candidates can use their personal Mozilla Reps profile page, personal website/blog, Mozilla wiki page or any other channel to post information regarding their candidacy. Each candidate is required to answer a set of questions that will be posted on their official [[ReMo/Council/Elections/Candidates|Mozilla Reps Candidates wiki page]].

The set of questions that each candidate is required to answer can be found [[ReMo/Council/Elections/Questions|here]]. 

==== <u>Town Halls</u> ====

During the campaign period, candidates will be given 3 distinct opportunities to answer "live" questions from Reps on the #remo irc channel to accommodate 3 different time zones. (More details shortly).  

* Use of social media and email shall be  acceptable, provided posts are not deemed as spam, negative, nor  detrimental to the election process and the Mozilla Reps program in  general.

* Any Candidate found campaigning in violation of aforementioned guidelines shall be disqualified after investigation by the Council if elections have not yet started. If the candidate won a seat and is found to have violated the guidelines, the candidate will be be removed from the Council and replace with the candidate who was ranked just below after the range voting.

* Mozilla Reps Council members cannot make public endorsements of candidates during the campaign period.

=== Results ===

* The three of four candidates (depending on the election cycle) who get highest number of votes shall be declared Winners.  

* If there are fewer Candidates or Winners than the available number of Council seats, the Council will deliberately assign a provisional Council member who will sit on the Council for six months.   The provisional Council member's seat will be vacated after the next elections.

* In case of a tie that affects the outcome of the elections, the tie shall be broken by the following criteria:

* The Rep with the least number of days spent as part of the Council shall be declared the winner. This is to ensure a good representation for the Council and giving all Mentors a chance to be part of the Council.

* If there is a tie with the first criterion, the Council shall deliberate based on the Candidate's track record as a Mentor, and the Council shall break the tie by vote.

====<u>Appeals</u>====

A Candidate has 48 hours after elections results are made public to file an appeal to contest the results of the elections.

=== Election Schedule ===

==== 1st election cycle ====

* '''February 11th''': election announcement and call for self-nominations
* '''February 18th''': candidates announced by council and campaign is officially open  at 12pm UTC
* '''February 24th''': [[ReMo/Council/Elections/Town_hall|Town hall]] organized in #remo at 3pm UTC (to be confirmed)
* '''March 1st''': voting begins at 12pm UTC
* '''March 4th''': voting ends at 12pm UTC and results are announced publicly

[[Category:Elections]]