Hi there,
I think there was a lot to learn from this election.
The categories where very confusing. We need to make a big effort to make it simpler to explain.
I also agree deeply with the “we are missing a category” for everyone statement. I think we should concentrate on this category and make most of the election about that. Anyone that is a learner, has participated in the forums or has come in contact with this community should be invited to vote here. Registration to vote should be always open and registering an email should suffice, but any interaction with the community could also be means for pre-registration. E.g: having an account in this forums.
Ideally, that should be lots of votes and participation. Also for a moment I’m not taking much consideration about the multiple-persona situation.
This would probably mean that an individual vote does not carry too much weight. But luckily there are ways to make your voice a little louder. You could register as an author by providing proof that you are instructor in an active course. This would probably mean less votes in this category, but still many individuals wanting to vote might take this extra step to make their vote count a bit more.
Finally we have core contributors, which should be the smallest group in the election, which vote carries more weight. These group is well known and we have their email addresses already. Registration for this category is automatic.
This way of looking at the election puts most of the effort in reaching out to the community at large and inviting them to vote in the election for the first seat. People with more involvement in the community or platform do a bit more and get to vote for the second or third seats.
For me it would also revert the picking order for the three elections. Currently, CCs take their pick, then authors and then learners. I would flip it so that the learners/everyone category picks first, from the remaining candidates authors get their choice and finally CCs.
Now, let’s take the multiple-persona situation out of the drawer I put it in. Someone could vote more than once, yes, but there is not too much incentive for it. Voting in the general election would always be possible. Perhaps even with a second registration with a different email, but the votes that get more weight require more proof and validation. If the picking order is also reversed, then if a CC’s choice is already picked by the authors or learners, then the CC gets an opportunity to have his/her first and possibly even second pick in the results.
I appreciate all the hard work that went into this years election. I hope we will make it even better for the next.