Voting

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The Decision Support Application is designed to help the ETSI Groups with their decision making processes. It has predefined types of decisions for

• approving a draft,
• selecting an option,
• electing officials
• ordinary decisions.

Each type has been defined in accordance with the ETSI Rules of  Procedure (in terms of who can vote, calculation of results etc.).

Each decision will normally have 3 phases

Phase 1 - Creating (also modifying, deleting or closing a vote

Phase 2 - Voting

Phase 3 - Results

In addition, you may be interested in Validating your voting rights

Voting

How to Vote

1. Select IN PROGRESS from the menu.
2. Select the particular vote from the list. (Green indicates consensus gathering and Blue indicates votes.) If you find you cannot vote it may be because:
   1. There are currently no open votes in which you are allowed to participate.
   2. The organization you  represent  does not have voting rights.
   3. You are not correctly registered in the Membership List of the appropriate Group in case of vote by correspondence.
   4. You are not declares as Present in case of vote in a meeting.
3. If you represent more than one organization, you will be able to select the appropriate organization from the list at the top of the screen. You will only be able to vote on behalf of ONE of these Organizations. If you represent more than one organization, but do not have the option to select the organization, or if the list is not complete, please contact the Technical Body Support Team https://portal.etsi.org/People/Commitee-Support-Staff
4. Make your selection and click on the "Submit" button
5. Once you have voted, the Voted column in the Vote List is set to "Y".

You may change your vote until the close of the voting period.

If someone else from your organization has already voted, you will see who has voted and if the vote is not secret, you can also see how they voted.

You may, in exceptional circumstances, change the vote of another representative of your organization. However, it is strongly recommended that you contact the person first. If you change the vote of another person that person will be informed by email of your action.

Voting rights

Who may vote

In a Technical Body:

• For a vote during a meeting, clauses 1.7.1 and 1.7.1.1 of the Technical Working Procedures (TWP) apply.
• For a vote by correspondence, clauses 1.5.5, 1.7.1 and 1.7.1.2 of the TWP apply.

In an Industry Standardization Group:

ISGs basically follow the same rules as those laid down in TWP clause 1.7 for Technical Bodies. However, rules for appointment of officials are those laid down in TWP clause 3.3. They are also authorized to deviate from the ETSI TWPs, as per clause 3.7, these potential deviations are specified in each ISG's respective Member Agreement.

For example, in its deviations an ISG may define its own vote calculation rules (non-weighted simple majority), or use presence to previous

How to check your rights

You first need a username and password.

For voting by correspondence in a Technical Body, open the TB Membership/Exploder Lists application.

• Step 1: Check that you have (been) registered to the list. The right side of the screen shows the email exploders lists to which you are registered. Technical Body Membership lists are highlighted. (You may also subscribe to a list for email only. In this case the exploder list will not be shown on the screen and you will not have voting rights.) If you don't see the list, follow the instructions for Registering to a Technical Body List below.

• Step 2: Check that your voting rights are correct. Click on the name of the membership list. Search for your name or email address (Use the Browser "search" or "find"  functions). The last column shows your voting rights. If you have "No Voting Rights" check that your Organization and the Organization status is correct. If the organization is not correct or if you think the status is not correct, then email the membership cell at membership@etsi.org .

For voting in an Industry Specification Group, specific rules may apply according to the ISG agreement. To know your voting rights, contact the person supporting the ISG.

Registering to a Technical Body Membership List

Open the TB Membership/Exploder Lists application.

Select the Technical Body from the list on the left side of the page and click to view its email exploder lists.

Tick the list indicated as the Membership list and specify the email address(es) you would like this list to use.

Click the "Add me" button. The list owner will receive a message indicating that you wish to join the list.

Creating/Modifying

Officials (Chair and Vice Chair) and support staff are allowed to manage votes for their Groups: the "Create" and "Modify" options are visible to them.

Modifying a vote configuration is no longer possible after the first vote has been cast. However, Deletion is still possible.

To create a vote, you provide the vote details in two consecutive screens. The first screen displays the elements below. When satisfied with the details entered, click on the "Create" Button, and the second screen will be displayed.

Body

Select the body available to you from the list proposed in the "Technical Body" field. Note that after creation of the procedure, the Body can no longer be modified. However, deletion is still possible.

Category

The following predefined Categories of decision are supported by the application (Details of Categories).

• Election 1st Ballot
• Election 2nd Ballot with 2 Candidates
• Election 2nd Ballot with more than 2 Candidates
• Election 3rd Ballot
• Vote on Draft EN
• Vote on Draft TS, TR, ES, EG, GR or GS
• Selection of an option
• Ordinary decision

Once the vote has been created, the Category may not be modified any longer, however deletion is still possible.

The Secret flag determines whether the individual votes and comments will be visible or not.

For several categories this choice is imposed by the application (following ETSI Directives). For others, the Secret flag may be toggled manually.

The outcome (e.g. draft approved/not approved,) and the percentage of votes will always be available on closure of a decision process.

Subject

The Title must clearly identify the decision to be taken (e.g.

• Approval of DTS/CYBER-0014 (TS 103 486) final draft v0.05 for publication
• Election of a vice chair-Chairman for ISG NFV Working Group IFA

The Details can add additional information if required. "Before voting, a clear definition of the issues shall be provided by the chair" [ETSI TWP]

Voting Period

The Voting period must be defined.

For a vote by correspondence, the vote will be opened from 00:00:01 GMT on the starting date.

It will close at midnight GMT on the closing date.

For a vote during a meeting, select the number of hours by which the meeting time zone is ahead of or behind GMT (GMT+/-xx:xx)

• Officials and others who have rights to manage votes, may also close a vote manually at any time before the end date and time specified at the creation time.
• If the start date is configured in the past, the vote will start immediately after being created.
• You cannot start and end a vote outside of the meeting dates and times.

When satisfied with the details entered, click on the "Create" Button

On the next screen you will find the elements below.

Document Location

The Document Location which may be used to provide a hyperlink to a copy of the draft for approval, the CVs of the candidates etc. It may be a word document, zipped file, HTML page other file type, or a folder. This field is optional and may remain blank.

Candidates

In the case of an election or selection of a technology , the Candidates or options  must be specified. Enter each one, then use the "Add" button to create another. The option to "abstain" will be added automatically.

In the case of an approval of a draft, the options "yes", "no" and "abstain" will be automatically created.

Near the bottom of this second screen is a link to the Membership list of the Group concerned. This is the list of people who have voting rights when it is a vote by Technical Body for a vote by correspondence. If a person is not in the list, or if the last column says "No voting rights" they will not be able to vote for a vote by correspondence. People representing Full and Associate Member Organizations may get voting rights via the TB Membership Lists application.

For vote during a meeting, the list of all Full and Associate members voting weights applies.

For voting rules for TB and ISG, see https://portal.etsi.org/webapp/tbdecision3/Menu.asp

Click on the Accept button when ready. It display the Vote details

Vote details

A summary of the details you have entered will be displayed. You can then click on Next to optionally send an email.

Send an email

Templates for email notification to inform the group exploder list will be created in the application. You may access it by clicking on the NOTIFICATIONS menu.

The possible actions on a pre-configured notification email are:

• Delete
• Update
• Send

The "Notifications" menu option provides links to all notifications which have not been deleted or sent.

See also:

Closing

Notification

Delete a vote

Notification

When a vote is created or closed, an email template is created. It is addressed to the exploder list for the Group concerned and provides the details including a link to the voting form or results page as appropriate.

You may modify the message providing any additional information required.

You may send it immediately or save it and send it later.

The "Notifications" menu item provides access to all notifications which have not been sent or deleted.

Closing

A vote may be manually closed before the end of the voting period.

This may be useful if a vote is to take place during a meeting. Delegates can be asked to vote before a certain time, say 12:00. The chairman can close the vote manually at that time and the results are immediately available. This would allow a second ballot in the afternoon if required.

The people with the rights to create and modify a vote also have the rights to close it. Choose "Close" from the menu bar and select the vote you wish to close.

Once closed, a vote cannot be opened again.

Results

All account holders have access to the results of all decisions, provided they are ETSI member.

The results can be displayed in three levels of detail. They are only visible after the Chair has asked the TB officer to make them visible.

• The outcome (e.g. if a draft was accepted or rejected, if a person was elected) is displayed.
• The percentage of votes cast for each option can also be made available.
• The third level of detail is the individual votes cast and the comments made. This is only available for consensus gathering and voting on drafts. This is not available for ballots for election, nor for votes where the secret flag has been set (see Vote Creation)

Results dissemination to the mailing list or during the meeting is manual.

Delete

This is intended for use, only when the vote has been created in error.

The people who may create a vote process for a Group may also delete them.

Once deleted, a vote cannot be restored. No results are available for a deleted vote.

Choose "Delete" from the menu. Select the vote to be deleted. Click on the "Delete" button.

Categories of vote

Vote/consensus/selection/election categories

Category of Vote	Who can participate	Type of results (***)	Notes
Election Ballot 1	Full members Associate members(*)	Outcome Percentage	71% or more required for election.
Election Ballot 2 (a) (2 candidates)	Full Members Associate Members(*)	Outcome Percentage	When there are two candidates, the one with the most votes is elected.
Election Ballot 2 (b) (3+ candidates)	Full Members Associate Members(*)	Outcome Percentage	When there are more than two candidates 71% or more is required.
Election Ballot 3	Full Members Associate Members(*)	Outcome Percentage	Between two highest candidates from 2(b). The person with the most votes is elected.
Vote on EN	Full members Associate Members (**)	Outcome Percentage Individual votes/comments Preview allowed	71% required for approval. The Chair may decide to hold a secret vote, in which case the individual votes, comments and preview are not allowed.
Consensus EN	Full members Associate Members (**) Counsellors (**)	Percentage Individual votes/ comments Preview allowed	The Chair decides if there is consensus
Vote TS, TR, ES, EG	Full members Associate Members(*)	Outcome Percentage Individual votes/comments Preview allowed	71% required for approval. The Chair may decide to hold a secret vote, in which case the individual votes, comments and preview are not allowed.
Consensus TS, TR, ES, EG	Full members Associate Members Counsellors(**)	Percentages Individual votes/ comments Preview allowed	The Chair decides if there is consensus
Selection of Technology	Full members Associate Members Counsellors(**)	Percentages Individual votes/ comments Preview allowed	As for a Consensus the Chair decides how to interpret the results.
Board decision	Elected Board members	Outcome Percentages Individual votes Preview Allowed	Only Board Members may see the results
Board Election	Elected Board members	Outcome Percentages	Only Board Members may see the results

* "... see clause 1.7 of Technical Working Procedures for calculation of voting result in Technical Body. See clauses 1.7, 3.3 and 3.7 for ISGs.

** "... the opinions of Counsellors (and in the case of ENs or regulatory documents, associate members) should be noted..."TWP 1.7.1 In these cases Counsellors and Associate members may participate and may provide comments with a voting weight of zero.

*** They are only visible after the Chair has asked the TB officer to make them visible.