Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-06-18/Board elections

This week, the Signpost examines election rules and regulations.

This year's board elections will be run similarly to the elections of 2006. All Wikimedia contributors will be allowed one ballot, provided that they have at least 400 edits on a single project by June 1, 2007, and their first edit was made before March 1, 2007.

The election will be handled using approval voting, giving each voter a simple yes-or-no vote on each candidacy. It has not yet been announced who will tally the vote, except that a third-party organization is being contacted. Results will not be released to voters or to the Board of Trustees until after the election; in last year's election, some results were leaked to board members. (see archived story).

One new facet of the elections is the requirement that every candidate be endorsed by 12 voting-eligible users. Endorsements are currently being solicited, through 23:59 UTC, 23 June. Each voter can endorse up to 3 candidates. Many candidates have already reached the twelve-endorsement minimum. Any users willing to stand in the board election can present themselves through 23:59 UTC, 23 June, although an earlier entry would probably be required to ensure that candidates have enough time to receive 12 endorsements. Candidates must have made at least 400 edits by June 1, 2007, and their first edit must have been made before June 1, 2006. Also, Florida law requires that all board members (and, by extension, all candidates) must be at least 18 years old, and must make their real name public. Candidates must submit proof of age and identity to the Foundation.

This week, eleven users entered the election, making a total of thirteen users currently standing in the election. Incumbents Erik Moeller, Kat Walsh and Oscar van Dillen all announced their intention to seek another term; other users entering the race this week include Paweł Dembowski (Ausir), former Foundation employee Danny Wool, Jason Safoutin (DragonFire1024), River Tarnell (Kate), Kim Bruning, Garrett Fitzgerald (SarekOfVulcan), Steve Dunlop (UninvitedCompany), and Yann Forget (Yann). Michael Snow and Artur Jan Fijałkowski (WarX) had already entered the race.

Next week: The Signpost will interview all users standing in the election.