[Members] Election of X.Org Foundation Board Members is now open

[Barton C Massey]

In message <87wsr7ycah.wl%cworth at cworth.org> you wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:36:22 -0800, Barton C Massey wrote:
> > button up top first.)  Once a ballot is presented to you,
> > you will be asked to rank the six candidates in the order 1
> > (most preferred) to 6 (least preferred).  You do not have to
> > place all six votes. You may select a given ranking only
> > once (e.g., only place one vote of '2').
> 
> The actual ballot also adds the following text:
> 
> 	The 4 candidates who receive the highest vote totals will
> 	serve for 2 years.
> 
> And I'm thoroughly confused. What does "highest vote
> total" mean? How does the voting system treat a "no vote",
> (as compared to a 6, say). Would one or the other of these
> two choices express a stronger non-desire for a particular
> candidate to serve on the board?

Yes, we gave quite a confusing description.  In particular,
the phrase "highest vote total" is highly misleading---see
below.  Our apologies.

> I'm guessing there isn't some sort of Condorcet method
> used to evaluate the rankings, correct?

In a way.  The method we are using is known as the simple
Borda Count method (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borda_count).
The winners in the current election will be the four
candidates with the highest point totals, where the rankings
are scored as follows:

	rank	points
	  1	  6
	  2	  5
	  3	  4
	  4	  3
	  5	  2
	  6	  1
	none	  0

Thus, refusing to rank someone denies them any points at
all.  Of course each rank can be assigned to at most one
candidate.

Thanks much for reminding me to clarify this.

    Bart Massey
    Election Committee
    X.Org Foundation Board
    bart at cs.pdx.edu