Elections

Elections¶

Governance body elections for Concord Council and Technical Steering Committee.

Election Schedule¶

Concord Council¶

• Frequency: Annual
• Staggered: 3 seats (odd years), 4 seats (even years)
• Nomination Period: 4 weeks
• Voting Period: 2 weeks
• Next Election: [TBD - Foundation not yet established]

Technical Steering Committee¶

• Frequency: Annual (January)
• All Seats: Elected/selected simultaneously
• Meritocratic Selection: 4 seats (criteria-based)
• Community Vote: 1 seat
• Next Election: [TBD - Foundation not yet established]

Eligibility¶

Voters¶

To vote in Foundation elections, you must be an active contributor:

• ≥3 merged contributions in past 12 months, OR
• ≥10 substantive issue/PR comments in past 12 months, OR
• Attended ≥3 community meetings in past 12 months, OR
• Approved by Council/TSC as contributor (exceptional cases)

Verification: Automated via GitHub activity + manual review for edge cases.

Candidates¶

Concord Council¶

• Active contributor for ≥6 months
• No vendor affiliation (see Anti-Capture Policy)
• Not currently serving on TSC
• Accept Code of Conduct and governance responsibilities

TSC (Meritocratic Seats)¶

• Active contributor for ≥12 months
• Significant technical contributions (see scoring criteria)
• Not in top 3 scorers may still run for community seat
• Vendor affiliation disclosed (max 1 seat per vendor)

TSC (Community Seat)¶

• Active contributor for ≥6 months
• No technical contribution threshold
• Vendor affiliation disclosed

Nomination Process¶

Council Nominations¶

Self-Nomination (preferred):

**Candidate**: @username
**Statement**: (max 500 words)
- Why I'm running
- Relevant experience
- Governance priorities
**Conflicts of Interest**: [disclose]
**Endorsements**: @user1, @user2 (optional)

Community Nomination: Requires candidate acceptance within 48 hours.

TSC Nominations¶

Meritocratic Seats (1-4): No nomination needed. Top scorers invited.

Community Seat (5): Same self-nomination process as Council.

Voting Methods¶

Concord Council¶

Ranked-Choice Voting (Instant Runoff): - Voters rank candidates 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd choice - Eliminates spoiler effect - Ensures majority support

TSC Community Seat¶

Approval Voting: - Vote for as many candidates as you support - Candidate with most approvals wins - Simple and strategic-resistant

TSC Meritocratic Seats¶

Criteria Scoring (transparent):

Top 4 scorers invited to serve. If decline, next highest invited.

Published: Full scoring spreadsheet released 2 weeks before selection.

Timeline Example (Council)¶

Voter Registration¶

Automatic: If you meet active contributor criteria, you'll receive ballot link via: - GitHub email (primary) - Mailing list (backup)

Manual: If you believe you qualify but didn't receive ballot, email elections@mobius.systems with: - GitHub username - Evidence of contributions - Contact email

Deadline: 48 hours before voting period ends.

Ballot System¶

Requirements: - Anonymous voting (Concord Council can't see individual votes) - Verifiable (voters can confirm their vote was counted) - Tamper-proof (cryptographic integrity) - Open-source (preferably Helios or similar)

Not Acceptable: - Vendor-controlled platforms (Google Forms, SurveyMonkey) - Non-verifiable systems - Closed-source vote tabulation

Ties¶

Concord Council¶

• Runoff between tied candidates (1-week voting period)
• If still tied: Coin flip (livestreamed, verifiable randomness)

TSC Community Seat¶

• Runoff between tied candidates
• If still tied: Incumbent preference (if applicable), else random

TSC Meritocratic¶

• Tie in scoring: Council + sitting TSC vote to select among tied candidates

Recounts¶

Any candidate may request recount within 48 hours of results by: - Emailing elections@mobius.systems - Stating specific concern (e.g., "vote totals don't match published turnout")

Recount process: - Independent auditor verifies cryptographic proofs - Results published within 7 days - Costs borne by Foundation

Results Publication¶

Within 24 hours of voting period close:

# [Body] Election Results - [Year]

**Turnout**: X voters (Y% of eligible)
**Elected**:
1. @winner1 - Z votes
2. @winner2 - Y votes
3. (etc.)

**Full Results**: [link to detailed breakdown]
**Cryptographic Proof**: [link to Helios verification]

**New Term Begins**: [Date]

Special Elections¶

Triggered by: - Seat vacated mid-term (resignation, removal) - New seat created (governance amendment)

Abbreviated timeline: - 2-week nomination - 1-week voting - Winner serves remainder of term

Challenges¶

Disputed results may be challenged within 7 days by: - Filing formal objection with Council + TSC - Providing evidence of irregularities - Requesting independent review

Review process: - Neutral third-party auditor (if possible) - Council + TSC joint decision (⅔ of both) - Final (no further appeals)

Historical Results¶

[None yet - Foundation not established]

Elections will be documented here: - elections/YYYY-council.md - elections/YYYY-tsc.md

Contact¶

elections@mobius.systems

Election Administrators: Appointed by Council + TSC at least 8 weeks before each election.

See Also¶

• Governance Overview
• Concord Council
• Technical Steering Committee
• Anti-Capture Policy