Quorum

Quorum and Voting Rules¶

Detailed rules for quorum, voting procedures, and decision-making in governance bodies.

Quorum Requirements¶

Concord Council¶

• Regular decisions: 5 of 7 members
• Charter amendments: 6 of 7 members
• Veto power: 5 of 7 members (⅔)
• Member removal: 5 of 7 members (⅔ of present)

No quorum: Meeting cancelled and rescheduled.

Technical Steering Committee¶

• Regular decisions: 3 of 5 members
• Kernel changes: 4 of 5 members
• Security emergencies: 2 of 5 members (ratified within 7 days)
• Veto power: 4 of 5 members (⅔)

No quorum: Decision deferred to next meeting.

Joint Decisions (Council + TSC)¶

• Budget approval: 5/7 Council + ⅗ TSC
• Officer selection: 5/7 Council + ⅗ TSC
• Foundation amendments: ⅔ of both bodies

Voting Thresholds¶

Voting Procedures¶

Standard Process¶

1. Proposal: Published ≥7 days before vote
2. Discussion: Open comment period
3. Call to vote: Announced ≥48 hours prior
4. Voting window: 7 days (async)
5. Results: Published within 24 hours

Abstentions¶

• Counted toward quorum: Yes
• Counted in threshold: No (e.g., 3 yes + 1 abstain + 1 no = ¾ majority)
• Must provide reason: Encouraged but not required

Proxy Voting¶

Not allowed for governance bodies. Members must vote directly.

Exception: Emergency security votes may accept written proxy if member unreachable.

Async vs. Synchronous¶

Async (Preferred)¶

• GitHub issue or PR comment thread
• Formal ballot via secure voting tool
• Timeline: 7 days to vote
• Use for: RFCs, policy changes, non-urgent decisions

Synchronous (Meetings)¶

• Live vote during meeting
• Timeline: Immediate
• Use for: Procedural votes, meeting logistics, urgent matters

All votes logged in meeting notes or GitHub regardless of method.

Recusal¶

Members must recuse from votes where they have: - Direct financial interest in outcome - Employment conflict (vendor decisions) - Personal relationship creating bias

Self-declaration required. Other members may challenge and request recusal (majority vote).

Recused members: - Do not count toward quorum - May not vote - May speak to provide context (if others consent)

Emergency Procedures¶

Security Vulnerabilities¶

• TSC Authority: Any 2 members may approve emergency patch
• Timeline: Immediate action authorized
• Ratification: Full TSC vote within 7 days (retroactive)
• Council Notification: Within 48 hours (private)

Capture Threat¶

• Council Authority: ⅔ vote may trigger hard fork
• Timeline: 48-hour vote window (if urgent)
• TSC Consultation: Required but not binding
• Public Notice: Issued simultaneously with decision

Infrastructure Outage¶

• Admin Authority: Foundation officers may act unilaterally
• Scope: Service restoration only, no policy changes
• Reporting: Full incident report to both bodies within 7 days

Lazy Consensus¶

For routine technical decisions (TSC only):

• Propose on mailing list or GitHub
• No objection for 72 hours = approved
• Any TSC member may elevate to formal vote
• Council may request formal vote for ethical concerns

Not applicable to: - Policy changes - Kernel architecture - Security decisions - Anything Council flags

Supermajority (⅔)¶

When required: - Charter amendments (Council) - License changes (both bodies) - Kernel breaking changes (TSC) - Member removal (either body) - Veto exercise (either body) - Hard fork trigger (Council)

Calculation: ⅔ of votes cast (abstentions excluded from denominator).

Example: 5 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain = 5/7 votes = 71% ≥ ⅔ ✓

Deadlock Resolution¶

If Council and TSC cannot agree on joint decisions:

Phase 1: Mediation (14 days)¶

• Neutral facilitator (agreed by both)
• Structured dialogue
• Goal: Consensus or compromise

Phase 2: Community Input (14 days)¶

• Public RFC process
• Community feedback period
• Open discussion threads

Phase 3: Supermajority Attempt¶

• ⅔ vote of both bodies required
• If achieved: Decision final
• If not: Phase 4

Phase 4: Status Quo Prevails¶

• No change implemented
• Deadlock documented publicly
• May be revisited after 6 months

Example: TSC wants to change MII threshold to 0.90, Council opposes (Charter compliance). Deadlock → Status quo → Threshold remains 0.95.

Transparency¶

All votes are public record:

**Vote**: RFC-0042 (MII Spec Update)
**Body**: TSC
**Date**: 2025-11-08
**Quorum**: 4/5 present
**Result**: Approved (3 yes, 1 no, 0 abstain)

**Votes**:
- @alice: Yes - "Improves measurement accuracy"
- @bob: Yes
- @charlie: Yes
- @dana: No - "Needs more testing"
- @eve: [absent]

Exception: Security votes disclosed after embargo lifts.

Vote Reversal¶

Decisions may be reversed by: - New vote with same threshold as original (after ≥30 days) - Supermajority of same body (⅔), immediate - Charter violation declared by Council

Not reversible: - Elections (serve out term or removal process) - Irreversible actions (e.g., published releases)

Remote Participation¶

All governance activities support remote participation: - Video conferencing for meetings - Async voting via secure ballots - IRC/chat for real-time text - Email for asynchronous discussion

No in-person requirements. Global participation is foundational.

Meeting Quorum¶

For meetings (not votes): - Council: 4 of 7 (majority) - TSC: 3 of 5 (majority)

Below quorum: Meeting held as discussion-only, no binding votes.

Record Keeping¶

All votes recorded in: - Meeting notes (if during meeting) - GitHub issues/PRs (if async) - Governance log (governance/votes/YYYY-MM-DD-topic.md)

Required fields: - Date, body, topic - Quorum met? (Y/N) - Vote breakdown - Outcome - Rationale (brief)

Appeals¶

Procedural challenges may be appealed: - Within 7 days of decision - To the other body (Council ↔ TSC) - Grounds: Quorum violated, conflict of interest not disclosed, etc.

Review process: - Other body reviews procedure - ⅔ vote to overturn - Decision final (no further appeals)

Questions?¶

governance@mobius.systems

See Also¶

• Governance Overview
• Concord Council
• Technical Steering Committee
• Elections