ICCF 2015-012: Delegates Not Able to Attend Congress
Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation (WCCF)
Enfranchisement for Delegates Who Are Not Able to Attend Congress
Proposal
A pre-Congress online voting system will replace much of the current system of proxies representing delegates who are not able to attend Congress.
All proposals to Congress will be presented on the ICCF website and will be available to anyone who has an ICCF ID and password. Immediately following the deadline for officials’ reports, the proposals will be closed for comment; at this point, all the comments by ICCF officials will be shown alongside the proposals.
As soon as proposals are closed for comment, they will become open for online voting; all ICCF delegates will be able to see the following five options under each proposal:
- I have not yet discussed this proposal with my federation and I do not yet have an opinion.
- I have discussed this proposal with my federation and I vote in favour of the proposal.
- I have discussed this proposal with my federation and I vote against the proposal.
- I would like to participate in the Congress discussion about this proposal, and I will decide how to vote following this discussion
- My proxy (or delegate designee) will participate in the Congress discussion about this proposal, and I trust him or her to vote in the best interests of my federation.
Option 1 will be selected by default.
If option 1 is selected, there will be no vote cast for this proposal by the federation, and the delegate, delegate designee, or proxy will have no vote at Congress. If either option 2 or 3 are selected, then the vote will be automatically cast and the delegate, delegate designee, or proxy will have no further vote on this proposal at Congress. If either option 4 or 5 is selected, the delegate, delegate designee, or proxy will have the opportunity to vote in person at Congress.
Online voting will be closed 7-days before the opening of Congress. Votes cast will be secret until the completion of live voting for that proposal.
A spreadsheet will be generated of the voting for each proposal to facilitate the work of the General Secretary at Congress.
Rationale
Congress is very much a luxury for many people, and attendance for many delegates depends on the financial state of their federation, or their personal resources; it also depends on the ability to take time away from normal responsibilities, such as work or families and medical issues may also factor into a decision to attend Congress.
Being able to represent his or her federation in the ICCF decision making process is an important pre-requisite for a national delegate, however being unable to attend ICCF Congress should not be a barrier.
The current available process for representation is the proxy system; however, many proxies regard the position as an opportunity to double their own representation at the cost of the federation being represented. The situation has been improved significantly by publishing the details of each vote in the minutes; however, this is hardly satisfactory enfranchisement, a review of the previous minutes reveals that proxy votes rarely deviate from the vote of the person holding the proxy.
The recent initiative to publish both proposals, and their reviews by the relevant commissions in advance of Congress means that it should be quite possible for all federation executive committees to formulate an informed position on each proposal in advance of Congress and to state their position in advance.
Other Comments/Considerations
It may be the case that a federation wishes their delegate to participate in the debate, and to listen to the opinion of other delegates and officials before committing to their vote; for this reason we are not proposing that voting is totally removed from Congress.
It is also possible that a federation unrepresented at Congress trusts their proxy to listen to the argument and formulate a position on behalf of that federation, so neither are we proposing that proxy voting at Congress is completely removed.
What we are proposing is that permission is explicitly granted, per proposal, for proxies to make a decision in the best interests of the federation they are representing, and the removal of the right of a proxy to vote on a proposal where the federation they are representing has expressed no opinion whatsoever on the issue.
Relevent Documentation
ICCF Statutes, Articles 16 and 28; no change required as accepting this proposal does not affect the rights of a federation to be represented at Congress or to appoint a proxy.
Voting Summary
- A vote of Yes will mean that smaller and less affluent federations with delegates who are not able to attend Congress, either for financial or other reasons, will become more enfranchised. They will also become more closely involved in the decision making process in ICCF.
- A vote of No will mean that particular delegates will continue to extend their influence by soliciting proxies from federations known to be unlikely to instruct their proxy.
- A vote of ABSTAIN is not a vote but means the vote holder has no opinion and does not wish to represent the correspondence chess players of his or her federation in this matter.
Comments by Relevant Committees, Commissions, or ICCF Officers
Eric Ruch (EB)
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