GAC Committee Report to Council 17/12/05
Notes of Meeting - 1 December 2005, InternetNZ Auckland offices
Present: Chris Streatfield (Chair), Michael Wallmannsberger, Mark Harris, David Harris,
Apologies: Nick Wallingford, Colin Jackson
In attendance: Jordan Carter (Research & Policy Officer)
Meeting Opened: 12.23pm
Status: Draft
1. Apologies
The apologies from Nick Wallingford and Colin Jackson were accepted.
2. Agenda
The major item to be the software spec for the voting software. David Harris suggested looking at the issue of changing the e-vote mechanism to include more debate; a paper could be prepared on this.
3. Voting Software
The Committee needs to complete this to allow the office to implement it. Needs to be completed in the next five months for use at the AGM in 2006.
A range of points were discussed including:
- The objectives of the project
- Modular structure for the project
- Need eventually to do preferential votes for elections and referenda on constitutional changes
- Most important need is for an interface for elections and the supporting infrastructure for counting the votes cast.
- Separate the interface from the backend infrastructure
- The history of the voting system' s development
- Need a software specification
- Make the system available as open source but it is provided as-is
- Two counting mechanisms - First Past the Post, and preferential
- Security should be fit for purpose: where security means a casual user of the interface can' t submit multiple votes. Decent audit trail also required.
- Also a need to ensure that external parties can' t work out who voted for whom. (Scrutineer gets access to that vote.)
The Committee agreed that InternetNZ needed to do a specification for the software. A truly high-level specification is required, for the staff to move ahead with. The two designed interfaces (Chris and Michael) will be made available to the developer for information. Cost is important.
Staff then to expand it, if required, and find a vendor through an RFI process.
The specification will be developed by Chris in draft, to be circulated to the Committee by mid-December.
4. E-votes of Council
Michael explained the existing process, and noted the mood of Council with respect to the matter.
There was a discussion regarding whether there is a problem with the mechanism, or Council' s preceding debate of an issue. Alternatively the issue may be in the way requests for E-votes are presented to Council - the tone of explanatory text etc.
The discussion went wider into the matter of why Councillor employment needs to be approved by Council, etc.
The general view of the Committee was that there is no need to change the e-vote process. The suggestion is that when a vote is called for, the only text in the vote be the call and the text of the resolution, with arguments for the resolution and discussion happening on the Council' s discussion list instead.
The Committee directs the Secretariat to implement a new vote list for Council: council-evote at internetnz.net.nz for use for voting. Only President and Secretary can send. Replies to emails sent to this list will go to another new list - evote at internetnz.net.nz - which will have the President and Secretary as the only subscribers. Only votes sent back to this list will be counted as valid.
5. General Business
There were no items of general business.
Meeting Closed: 1.14pm
Next Meeting: Scheduled for Saturday 21 January 2006; not likely to be held.
Signed as a true and correct record:
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