[Foundation-l] Official Election Notice -- concerns aboutsuffrage requirements

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

Philippe Beaudette wrote:
> Hi Phoebe,
> 
> Thanks for your comments.  As you note, our intent is not to disenfranchise 
> anyone who is a part of this community.  I'm curious about how many people 
> we're actually talking about, and perhaps we can get someone to run some 
> numbers... (x number of community members who would otherwise meet voting 
> requirements would be disenfranchised by the "50 edit" clause).   I'll take 
> them to the election list and discuss; once we have an outcome I'll share it 
> with you and the group.
> 
> Philippe


<raises hand>

There are virtually certainly times  in the over 5 years that I have
been happily considering myself a member of the wikimedian/pedian
community, when this requirement would have disenfranchised me.

I think particularly of several episodes when I was nearly obsessively
involved with the Distributed Proofreaders project for proofing texts
collaboratively for Project Gutenberg.

Even though I may have not made a huge number of wikiedits during such
periods of obsession at those projects, I virtually certainly still
remained active in policy etc. discussions off-wiki (and yes, I know
some may - in their own view, deservedly - scoff at that), I do wish
to positively state that I didn't feel I had left wikimedia then, or
was somehow out of touch with what was going on with people and persons
on-wiki.

Frankly 50 edits in 61 days is not right as a measure. I would hesitate
to say even 50 edits in 6 months would be lenient enough, though perhaps 
such a requirement would not affect many people, one has to ask, why
use a coliander that strains out so few grains, when it is virtually
sure some of those rule ineligible by the criterion, will find it
hurtful and perhaps even insulting.


Yours in Wikimedia;

Jussi-Ville Heiskanen