Although there's been some concern about whether enough qualified candidates would come forward, those of us helping to plan this election have decided that it is time to start the process officially. Rather than decide how many positions we're electing, we have decided to open the election for candidates to declare themselves. We should soon be able to tell if there are good candidates capable of filling all of the vacant seats.
Information about the election is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_Decem...
Anyone planning to run should announce their candidacy by posting a statement to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_Decem...
The current timetable is for the election to be held from the 1st to the 15th of December. Candidates should declare themselves before November 30th, but we strongly encourage interested candidates to declare as early as possible so we can make a sensible decision about how many positions we plan to fill via this election.
We also still need somebody to serve as election inspector and run the election. Danny did this last time - is he interested in doing it again? Somebody else could too, or more than one person. The conditions, I believe, are that you not vote or be a candidate in the election yourself.
--Michael Snow