Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-11-06/Arbitration series

Candidates began announcing themselves this past week for the upcoming elections to the Arbitration Committee. A number of aspiring arbitrators are already busily preparing their candidate statements and responding to community questions.

The elections are planned for December, with the current schedule calling for voting to start 4 December and run for two weeks. So far, no change has been announced for the method of holding the elections. The last election involved public voting to support or oppose candidates, with all those receiving over 50% support being eligible for appointment. Jimbo Wales then appointed the top eight vote-getters (the number of vacancies being filled last year) along with three additional members to expand the size of the committee.

Of the committee members whose seats are up for election, two have announced that they will not run. Theresa Knott explained that she no longer had the time for the job, while The Epopt said, "Actually, after three solid years of wading through the muck, I want to write encyclopedia articles for a while." By completing his term, The Epopt would become the first member of the Arbitration Committee to have served a full three-year term. (Committee members were initially appointed to staggered terms; Fred Bauder served for two years before being re-elected, and is the only other original member to have served continuously for three years.)

Two other arbitrators whose terms are expiring, Jayjg and Sam Korn, have not yet announced whether they plan to run for re-election. In addition, one position has been vacant since Mackensen resigned in February. If the election is simply to fill the existing body, there would be five seats available in this election, although it remains to be seen what Wales wants to do. Further expansion has been suggested on occasion, along with possibly dividing the committee into smaller groups to hear cases.

As of this writing, fifteen candidates have submitted statements. In addition, a few people have already withdrawn after earlier listing themselves as candidates. Editors must have 1000 edits in the English Wikipedia to be eligible for candidacy. The deadline for editors to declare their candidacy is 1 December.