[AFIX Members] 2024 Board Elections & AGM

[Nishal Goburdhan]

On 19 Sep 2024, at 8:34, Kyle Spencer wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> The board has deliberated and agreed with the candidates that the
> chair should break the tie.


speaking for myself, i have never been a fan of a single person ever getting more power than any other, as this can easily give rise to abuse.  in the early days of af-ix, the check to prevent this, was to use an otherwise trusted resource from the secretariat, that did not have voting powers.   (hi michuki!)   i recognise that this is likely not congruent with your formalised AoA, but i think it’s instructive to point out that the potential for this abuse was recognised, and discussed earlier.  i am sure that other board members can share the techniques that they use in their organisations to resolve deadlocks.

since you asked, i’m openly stating my preference, which is to say that unless you *MUST* fill N* seats in this election, you simply go without filling this seat *now*, and add an additional seat in the next election.  i think that this is the cleaner approach, that shows the proper respect to the candidates that volunteered themselves.  alternatives like coin-tossing, or subjective voting (we all have our preferences .. ) are less appealing to me.



> We will also work to develop an amendment to the Articles of
> Association to clarify a solution for this problem in the future.

yes!  and that is why i think it’s wiser to not rush into fixing a “problem” that you can carefully think through, over a longer period, considering more measured approaches.

i also think it will be helpful to find the non-voting organisations in this election (you can tell who didn’t register for a ballot, right?)  and find out why, and encourage them to fix this in the next election.  i am willing to help with those conversations with the IXPs, if you’d like.

ymmv.  as i said, these are personal opinions.

—n.