SEEDIG Executive Committee
Elections 2017
[Updates] Nominations | Voting and results
In October–November 2017, an election process was put in place for the SEEDIG executive committee. The information below explains the process, and it is based on the provisions of the SEEDIG executive committee Terms of Reference (ToR). For more comprehensive information, please consult the full ToR.
Elections for the SEEDIG executive committee: Explaining the process
1. What is the SEEDIG executive committee and what does it do?
The executive committee is the body responsible for coordinating the SEEDIG process, which includes SEEDIG annual meetings and the related preparatory steps, as well as intersessional activities. The duties of the executive committee are outlined in the body’s Terms of Reference (ToR):
2. What is expected from members of the executive committee?
Being a member of the SEEDIG executive committee is not as much of a privilege as it is a responsibility. And it involves quite a lot of work, as detailed in the duties of the committee. Few important points to keep in mind:
3. What will be the term of executive committee members elected this year?
In line with Art.2.1. of the ToR, members of the executive committee shall serve for a term of two years, preferably coinciding with two consecutive SEEDIG cycles. However, by way of exception from this provision, and with a view to creating a framework for the partial elections provided in Art. 2.2, members of the executive committee elected in 2017 will have the following term: a. Three years, for the three members that receive most votes during the election process; b. Two years, for the remaining two members. This is in line with Art.9 of the ToR.
4. What should be the composition of the executive committee?
The executive committee consists of five (5) members. Its composition should reflect stakeholder, country, and gender diversity:
5. Eligibility criteria: Who can run for elections?
SEEDIG executive committee elections are open to any member of the SEEDIG community* who meets the following criteria:
6. Who can submit a nomination?
Members of the SEEDIG community can nominate themselves or other eligible members.
7. What happens with the nomination, once submitted?
Once a nomination is submitted, several steps follow:
8. What are the candidate and transparency statements?
Once deemed eligible by the election committee, candidates are asked to submit:
9. Who gets to vote?
As per the ToR, nationals and/or residents of countries in South Eastern Europe and the neighbouring area who are members of the dedicated SEEDIG mailing list at the date when the election cycle starts are eligible to vote, and shall be considered voting members of the SEEDIG community. A list of voting members will be distributed via the SEEDIG mailing list and published on the SEEDIG website, at least one week before the start of the voting period. Before the list is published, voting members will be asked to indicate, within a 48h timeline, whether they object to their names being included in the public list.
[Update] The list of voting members is available.
10. How will the vote take place?
Voting will be conducted via online means, and relevant information will be shared with voting members before the start of the voting period. The voting period will last 10 days.
[Update] Notes on the voting process are available.
11. When will the election results be announced?
The election committee shall announce the initial results of the voting process (including information on the number of votes castes, the number of valid votes for each candidate, the number of abstentions and invalid votes), within 48 hours from the closing of the voting period. The initial results may trigger different actions:
12. Election calendar: When will all this happen?
The calendar of the election process is given below (updated on 14 November):
13. Who’s on the election committee?
The election committee has been formed in line with Art.6 Section B of the ToR. Its composition is at follows:
In October–November 2017, an election process was put in place for the SEEDIG executive committee. The information below explains the process, and it is based on the provisions of the SEEDIG executive committee Terms of Reference (ToR). For more comprehensive information, please consult the full ToR.
Elections for the SEEDIG executive committee: Explaining the process
- What is the SEEDIG executive committee and what does it do?
- What is expected from members of the executive committee?
- What will be the term of executive committee members elected this year?
- What should be the composition of the executive committee?
- Eligibility criteria: Who can run for elections?
- Who can submit a nomination?
- What happens with the nomination, once submitted?
- What are the candidate and transparency statements?
- Who gets to vote?
- How will the vote take place?
- When will the election results be announced?
- Election calendar: When will all this happen?
- Who’s on the election committee?
1. What is the SEEDIG executive committee and what does it do?
The executive committee is the body responsible for coordinating the SEEDIG process, which includes SEEDIG annual meetings and the related preparatory steps, as well as intersessional activities. The duties of the executive committee are outlined in the body’s Terms of Reference (ToR):
- Coordinating the preparatory process for SEEDIG annual meetings, including, but not limited to, logistics (including location and relations with the host entity), finances, programme planning, and reporting.
- Attending SEEDIG annual meetings and coordinating logistics on site, together with the host.
- Coordinating the planning and execution of SEEDIG intersessional activities.
- ilinaging SEEDIG finances, and actively exploring new sponsorship opportunities for SEEDIG.
- Managing SEEDIG’s communication tools (website, social media channels, etc.) and ensuring they are kept up to date with information regarding the SEEDIG process.
- Initiating and coordinating outreach activities aimed at promoting SEEDIG and bringing new stakeholders into the SEEDIG process.
- Consulting the SEEDIG community on all significant matters related to the SEEDIG process, and ensuring that the views of the SEEDIG community are integrated, to the largest extent possible, in the preparatory process for SEEDIG annual meetings, as well as in SEEDIG intersessional activities.
- Ensuring that the core principles of the SEEDIG process – open, inclusive, bottom-up, and transparent – are fully complied with throughout all SEEDIG activities.
- Ensuring continuous communication with SEEDIG sponsors, partners, and supporting organisations.
2. What is expected from members of the executive committee?
Being a member of the SEEDIG executive committee is not as much of a privilege as it is a responsibility. And it involves quite a lot of work, as detailed in the duties of the committee. Few important points to keep in mind:
- Members are accountable to one another and to the SEEDIG community. The community has the power to remove individual members or recall the entire committee.
- Each member is responsible for carrying on specific activities, in line with the committee’s duties.
- Each member is expected and commits to dedicate an average of 5-6 working hours/week to SEEDIG activities. The actual amount of work fluctuates during a SEEDIG cycle, and considerably increases around the annual meeting (to up to 10 hours/week or even more).
- Members act in line with the provisions of the ToR.
3. What will be the term of executive committee members elected this year?
In line with Art.2.1. of the ToR, members of the executive committee shall serve for a term of two years, preferably coinciding with two consecutive SEEDIG cycles. However, by way of exception from this provision, and with a view to creating a framework for the partial elections provided in Art. 2.2, members of the executive committee elected in 2017 will have the following term: a. Three years, for the three members that receive most votes during the election process; b. Two years, for the remaining two members. This is in line with Art.9 of the ToR.
4. What should be the composition of the executive committee?
The executive committee consists of five (5) members. Its composition should reflect stakeholder, country, and gender diversity:
- Minimum three (3), but preferably four (4) stakeholder groups are represented on the committee.
- Preferably, each member represents a different country. In exceptional cases, there could be a maximum of two members from the same country.
- There is gender balance among the members.
5. Eligibility criteria: Who can run for elections?
SEEDIG executive committee elections are open to any member of the SEEDIG community* who meets the following criteria:
- Is a national or a resident of a country in South Eastern Europe and the neighbouring area.
- Demonstrates prior engagement with SEEDIG.
- Has been actively involved in Internet governance processes and/or organisations.
6. Who can submit a nomination?
Members of the SEEDIG community can nominate themselves or other eligible members.
7. What happens with the nomination, once submitted?
Once a nomination is submitted, several steps follow:
- All (self)nominations are reviewed by the election committee, with a view to determine if they are complete and the candidates meet the eligibility criteria. In the case of incomplete (self)nominations, the election committee contacts the nominator and asks for the missing information to be submitted within a determined timeline. If the missing information is not submitted by the indicated deadline, the nomination is deemed incomplete, and will not be considered during the election process.
- In the case of eligible nominations, the nominees will be asked to indicate whether they accept the nominations.
- (Self)nominations which are complete and meet the eligibility criteria are published on the SEEDIG website, on an ongoing basis, during the nomination period.
- Once a candidate is deemed eligible (and, in the case of nominations, after having accepted the nomination), he/she is contacted by the election committee and asked to submit two additional documents, within the nomination period:
- A candidate statement
- A transparency statement
8. What are the candidate and transparency statements?
Once deemed eligible by the election committee, candidates are asked to submit:
- A candidate statement, outlining the candidate’s vision for SEEDIG over the following two years, and his/her expected contribution to achieving SEEDIG’s objectives.
- A transparency statement, indicating all other Internet governance processes and/or organisations the candidate is involved with, on a voluntary or paid basis.
9. Who gets to vote?
As per the ToR, nationals and/or residents of countries in South Eastern Europe and the neighbouring area who are members of the dedicated SEEDIG mailing list at the date when the election cycle starts are eligible to vote, and shall be considered voting members of the SEEDIG community. A list of voting members will be distributed via the SEEDIG mailing list and published on the SEEDIG website, at least one week before the start of the voting period. Before the list is published, voting members will be asked to indicate, within a 48h timeline, whether they object to their names being included in the public list.
[Update] The list of voting members is available.
10. How will the vote take place?
Voting will be conducted via online means, and relevant information will be shared with voting members before the start of the voting period. The voting period will last 10 days.
[Update] Notes on the voting process are available.
11. When will the election results be announced?
The election committee shall announce the initial results of the voting process (including information on the number of votes castes, the number of valid votes for each candidate, the number of abstentions and invalid votes), within 48 hours from the closing of the voting period. The initial results may trigger different actions:
- The first five candidates receiving most votes during the voting process become members of the executive committee, provided that the diversity criteria mentioned above are met.
- If the diversity criteria are not met by the simple results of the voting process, the election committee will propose a composition of the executive committee that reflects the diversity criteria while taking into account the results of the vote to the largest extent possible. This proposal is subject to review and approval by the SEEDIG community, in line with Art.6 Section F of the ToR.
12. Election calendar: When will all this happen?
The calendar of the election process is given below (updated on 14 November):
| Milestones | Timeline/deadline |
| Publishing election calendar (start of election process)Launching call for volunteers for election committee | Wednesday, 27 September |
| Deadline for expressions of interest to serve on the election committee | Sunday, 1 October |
| Announcing election committee | Wednesday, 4 October |
| Election committee prepares nomination announcements, forms, etc. | 4–17 October |
| Launching call for nominations | Wednesday, 18 October |
| (Self)nomination periodReviewing/publishing nominations | 18 October – 1 November |
| Announcing voting members | Wednesday, 25 October |
| Closing nomination period | 1 November |
| Launching voting process | Friday, 3 November |
| Voting | 3 – 12 November |
| Voting closes | 12 November (end of day) |
| Initial results (top 5 candidates) | 14 November (end of day) |
| Proposal for executive committee (if top 5 candidates do not meet diversity criteria) | 14 November |
| Objection period | 14 – 21 November |
| Final results (if no objections raised) | 22 |
| Reviewing objections and providing response | 22–24 November |
| Final results (if no additional objections) | 25 |
13. Who’s on the election committee?
The election committee has been formed in line with Art.6 Section B of the ToR. Its composition is at follows:
- Members:
- Aleksandar Icokaev (private sector, North Macedonia)
- Zdravko Jukic (government, Croatia)
- Oksana Prykhodko (civil society, Ukraine)
- Observers:
- Andrea Beccalli (ICANN)
- Anja Gengo (IGF Secretariat)
- Sandra Hoferichter (EuroDIG)