Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-11-23/Election report

The annual Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) elections are now underway. Arbitration is the final stage of Wikipedia's dispute resolution process, and the members of ArbCom are typically experienced and respected project volunteers. The 2009 election will select as many as eight new arbitrators, who will begin their terms on 1 January 2010.

Meet the candidates
Candidate nomination page.

The election process has officially started and candidates can now nominate themselves. Nominations close at 23:59 UTC on 24 November. Nomination is open to any editor in good standing who has at least 1000 mainspace edits as of 10 November 2009, and who is over the age of 18 and of legal age at the editor's place of residence. Candidates are not required to be administrators or to have any other special permissions.

At press time 23 candidates had nominated themselves for this year's election, with 4 new candidates since the last report. A comprehensive overview of each of the candidates can be examined at the General Summary page.


 * AGK (Candidate statement)
 * Chutznik (Candidate statement)
 * Cla68 (Candidate statement)
 * Coren (Candidate statement)
 * Fred Bauder (Candidate statement)
 * Fritzpoll (Candidate statement)
 * Hersfold (Candidate statement)
 * Jehochman (Candidate statement)
 * Kirill Lokshin (Candidate statement)
 * Kmweber (Candidate statement)
 * KnightLago (Candidate statement)
 * Mailer diablo (Candidate statement)
 * MBK004 (Candidate statement)
 * RMHED (Candidate statement)
 * Ruslik0 (Candidate statement)
 * Seddon (Candidate statement)
 * Shell Kinney (Candidate statement)
 * SirFozzie (Candidate statement)
 * Steve Smith (Candidate statement)
 * Unomi (Candidate statement)
 * Wehwalt (Candidate statement)
 * William M. Connolley (Candidate statement)
 * Xavexgoem (Candidate statement)

Update
Chutznik withdrew their candidature 24 November, while one more user has nominated themselves before the close of the deadline:
 * Secret (Candidate statement)

Questions for candidates
The call for general questions to the candidates closed on November 17. Twenty-one editors submitted general questions, which have been transcluded to the question pages of each and every candidate, reachable through the respective candidate statement. Thirty-six general questions have been asked.

Individual questions may still be asked of each candidate until 23:59 1 December 2009, on his or her "/Questions for the candidate" subpage. Editors are asked to keep questions succinct and relevant, and to ensure they do not overlap with a general question, or with an individual question that has already been asked of the candidate. Candidates are not required to respond to mass questions asked in the individual questions that are not individualised.

Questions may be asked by any editor who is eligible to vote. To vote, you must have an account registered with at least 150 mainspace edits before 23:59 UTC on 1 November 2009. This total includes deleted edits. You may use this utility to check your eligibility. If you have questions about the voting process, or to have an administrator verify your deleted edits, please [&section=new ask].

Timeline and links
Here are the important dates for the 2009 ArbCom elections:
 * 10 November – Candidate nominations open and the question period commences
 * 17 November – Call for general questions closes
 * 24 November – Nominations close
 * 1 December – Voting begins
 * 14 December – Voting ends
 * by 21 December – results announced by Jimbo Wales (expected date)


 * Click here for the 2009 ArbCom Elections page

Requests for comment (RFC)
The requests for comment examining aspects of the overall ArbCom election process have been closed. A summary of the results is expected to be presented in a timely manner.

Update
The summary of the request for comment has now been posted by UltraExactZZ. The bullet points are that:
 * The Arbitration Committee shall consist of 18 Members elected to 2 Year Terms.
 * Arbitrators will be elected by Secret Ballot using the Securepoll extension.
 * Ballots will invite editors to Support or Oppose candidates.
 * Voters must have 150 mainspace edits before the election cycle to vote (Status Quo)

Discussion of the poll and its findings are welcomed at The RFC's Talk Page.