Voting and Elections Regulations

1. Objectives of the regulation

This regulation extends the Association’s bylaws section 10.5 ‘Voting in General Meeting’ by describing the used election and voting methods. It has three objectives:

Power balance: Establish equal voting power between two membership classes (individual members and organisation members). Ensure every member in good standing as of 30 days before the elections can vote (registration to vote is not required). The number of votes for different membership classes is determined based on the membership numbers 30 days before the spring general meeting. 

Online first: Guarantee fair and practical online voting in meetings with both online participants and participants physically present in local satellite meetings.  

Diversity: The electorate can influence the diversity of the elected board so that the board members would best complement each other.

2. Closed ballots

The closed ballot voting method is used in elections when there are more candidates than available positions. A closed ballot is also used when the discussion suggests that the outcome  of a decision item is not clear, and voting is therefore needed. 

• All members in good standing by 30 days before the general meeting will receive a voting code that is used in all closed ballot votings in that meeting.
• Voting will take place by filling online a voting form where the code is entered as a part of the form entry.  
• The unique voting codes will be generated and sent by at least two trusted people, and the process shall be video recorded to ensure no meddling. This is because the person who generates and sends the voting codes may  break the secrecy. 
• The voting period in elections is 72 hours at minimum, enabling voting for people who can not assist the whole general meeting due to time zone differences or other reasons.
• Other decisions than elections may also sometimes require voting. In these decisions, voting will be open for short periods during the general meeting and, in practice, requires assisting the meeting (physically or by distance) as it happens.

3. Process for elections

This process aims to facilitate and encourage broad participation by the membership and ensure diversity and inclusivity in MyData Global elections.

Before the general meeting:

1. The first general meeting notification will be delivered to the membership at least 45 days before the meeting.

   a) In the notification, the members are given instructions on how to step up and candidate for the Board and/or the Steering Group.
   b) After the notification, the willing members have two weeks to submit their Board and/or Steering Committee candidacy.
   c) Besides this self-nomination process steering group also proactively approaches potential candidates and interviews them. 
   d) Individual members can be nominated or they can self-nominate for the Board or the Steering Committee, or both.

2. The final board and Steering Committee candidates will be announced at the official general meeting notice, which is 30 days before the meeting (Bylaws 10.3 Notice of General Meetings).

   a) This notice shall contain the instructions on the election process.
   b) All who have the right to vote will receive a unique voting code in a separate email.

3. Members have time to get to know the candidates (we can organise chat interviews etc.) during the 30 days between the second invitation and the beginning of the general meeting.

During the general meeting:

The Board and Steering Group elections are handled as the last decision point in the general meeting. To accommodate the minimum 72 hour voting period, the general meeting will be put on a break during which the online voting and vote counting will occur. After the voting break, the meeting will resume to announce the results of the voting and close the meeting. The general meeting in which the elections take place may flow in the following order:

1. Review decisions not related to elections 
2. Review voting and election regulations
3. Explain the objective of having a diverse board
4. Present the candidates
5. Decide the size of the board
6. Decide the length of the voting period (exact times when online voting is opened and closed
7. Decide the exact time when the general meeting will be continued after the voting break
8. The board and steering group voting is opened, it continues at least 72 hours
9. The general meeting is put on break – casting votes online, and vote counting takes place during the break
10. At the predefined time, the general meeting is continued –  record and announce other decisions that were voted on, announce the election results and close the general meeting.

Casting votes for both Board and Steering Committee elections happen at the same time. The ballots for Board elections are counted first. The successful candidates in the Board election become non-eligible for the Steering Committee, and votes they had received in the Steering Committee elections become void.

All items that are voted during the meeting break (72 hour voting period) are voted in parallel using the same voting form. 

If the board size is decided by voting at the same time of elections, it means that at the time of voting, the members will not know how many people will be elected. The form will allow the highest possible number of elected seats as the most number of possible votes. (E.g., if the board size alternatives are 7 and 9, and we have 4 people retiring, up to 5 votes are cast on each ballot.)

4. Proxy voting

Members of the Association may delegate their vote(s) to another member by sharing their voting code with another person. Detailed guidance on informing member secretary about the proxy voting will be given in the general meeting invitation.

5. Changes to the voting and election regulations

• The voting and election regulations are established and approved to be used in the general meeting. A copy of valid regulations will be made available electronically for all members of the Association.
• Upon approval, the above voting and election regulations will become effective until a future general meeting decides to change or remove the regulations.
• Changes to the voting and election regulations shall be decided in the general meeting before any closed ballot votings, and the change will be effective immediately.
• Changes to the voting and election regulations shall be prepared openly under the guidance of the association’s Steering Committee.

Last updated on 18 May 2021