User:John Stephenson/sandbox

Only the proposer of the referendum and Election Committee members may modify this page. Substantive modifications by the proposer after the referendum has been formally proposed at 'July-August 2013 Referenda' will invalidate the signatures of any current supporters, and require them to sign again. Comments should be placed on the Talk page.

This page contains a proposed referendum question, the existing Charter article(s) or rule(s) which the proposer and any supporters of the referendum wish to change, and the proposed new text. A further section elaborates on the proposal.

Calling of Elections

Proposed by the John Stephenson

A proposed referendum on part of the Charter follows. If it is voted on, Citizens can support or oppose the question by indicating 'Yes' or 'No'. Under Article 37, a two-thirds majority is required to modify the Charter.

Elaboration

The procedure for conducting Citizendium elections is unnecessarily bureaucratic because it requires the Management Council to organise it via its own voting rules. This involves proposing a motion, supporting it, discussing it, and voting on it. Only then can an election committee be convened and the vote take place. If time is running out for an election to be conducted in good order, the process would benefit from allowing the Managing Editor to call an election and appoint a committee to carry it out. A period of less than 60 days prior to a term of office commencing, or 30 days after a seat becomes vacant, is one in which the Managing Editor could call an election but in which the Council might have trouble passing the appropriate legislation.