[Foundation-l] Will the Board accept the election result?

[Alison Wheeler]

On Sat, July 7, 2007 18:59, Thomas Dalton wrote:
> The board are glorified web hosts. They know perfectly well that we
> can find a new board if we have sufficient motivation - what would
> they have to gain by given us that motivation?

I don't wish to be presumptuous about what you understand the WMF Board to
be, but one thing they certainly are *not* is replaceable or under any
sort of control of the users in any way.  The present voting is,
therefore, an indication of general support which the (current) Board may
choose to act on however it sees fit. Without a membership structure they
are the sole arbiter of who is and is not appointed.

Saying that though, for the Board to decline to accept the results as
tabulated would, imho, be a very 'bad thing'(TM) which would not be good
for the projects and the 'editor buy-in'.

Last time around there were suggestions made during the voting period that
certain people would be 'unwelcome' on the Board, indeed that some Board
members would refuse to work with other who might get elected. In the
event, whilst not perfect, the world of Wikimedia did not collapse when
the results became known and I doubt that no matter who wins this time
around the Board will see that it should accept the universal suffrage
decision and work together for the benefit of the projects.

Alison