[Members] Election and By-laws approval voting OPEN

[Kevin E Martin]

To all X.Org Foundation Members:

The X.Org Foundation's annual election is now open and will remain open
until 23:59 GMT on 12 November 2006.

Five of the eight director seats are open during this election, with the
four members receiving the highest vote totals serving as directors for
two year terms and the member with the fifth highest vote total serving
as a director for a one year term as described in the following e-mail:

   http://expo.x.org/pipermail/members/2006-September/000000.html

There were six candidates nominated.  For a complete list of the
candidates and their personal statements, please see the following
e-mail:

    http://expo.x.org/pipermail/members/2006-October/000032.html

In addition to the board election, we are also voting on whether or not
to approve of the new By-laws.

Here are some instructions on how to cast your vote:

1. Login to the membership system at: https://members.x.org/

   If you do not remember your password, you can click on the "lost
   password" button and enter your user name.  An e-mail will be sent to
   you with your password.  If you have problems with the membership
   system, please e-mail <membership at x.org>.

2. When you login you will see a row of buttons that will allow you to
   update your info, list the members, list the open ballots and logout.
   Below this you will see a list of open ballots, for which you can
   cast votes.  At the bottom of this page you will see another row of
   buttons with the current privacy policy, the provisional By-laws, the
   provisional Membership Agreement and instructions on how to contact
   the admin.

   Note that if you click on the "Ballots" button at any time, you will
   see a list of the open ballots.

3. To cast your vote in a ballot, click on the "Cast" button to the
   right of the ballot you wish to vote on.  This will bring up another
   page with the list of the candidates, and a question of whether or
   not to approve the new By-laws.

4. For the election: There is a pull-down selection box next to each
   candidate.  For your top choice, select "1".  For your second choice,
   select "2" and so forth.  You should think of the numbers that you
   are selecting as the ranking of your preferences.  Note that you are
   only able to vote for five out of the six candidates.  For the sixth
   candidate, simply leave the selection blank.

   Note that you are NOT required to select your preferences for all
   five positions.  You can leave more than one blank.  The only
   restriction is that you cannot duplicate any of your choices (i.e.,
   you can only select one "1", one "2" and so forth).

5. For the By-laws: If you approve of the new By-laws, select the "Yes"
   radio button.  If you do not approve of the new By-laws, select the
   "No" radio button.  If you wish to abstain from this question, select
   the "Abstain" radio button.

   There is a link to the new By-laws in this question, or you can find
   the latest version of the By-laws here:

       https://members.x.org/docs/XOrg_ByLaws_29Oct06.pdf

   Note that answering this question is required for your vote to be
   validated.

6. After you have completed your ballot, click the "Vote" button.  Note
   that once you click this button, your votes will be cast and you will
   not be able to make further changes, so please make sure you are
   satisfied with your votes before clicking the "Vote" button.

   After you click the "Vote" button, the system will verify that you
   have completed a valid ballot.  If your ballot is invalid (e.g., you
   duplicated a selection or did not answer the By-laws approval
   question), it will return you to the previous voting page.  If your
   ballot is valid, your votes will be recorded and the system will show
   you a notice that your votes were cast.

Note that the election will close at 23:59 GMT on 12 November 2006.
At that time, the election committee will count the votes and present
the results to the current board for validation.  After the current
board validates the results, the election committee will present the
results to the Members.

The Election Committee
X.Org Foundation