We have identified some inconsistencies within our internal guidelines that could potentially call into question the current election. To ensure that we are properly aligning our processes, bylaws, and committee guidelines, we are canceling the current election and rescheduling it for March of 2026.
The inconsistencies
Last week, the membership committee identified a potential problem in the way that we handled the nominations for this election, specifically with regard to who did the nominating. We also identified some problems with how we renewed memberships for existing members earlier this year.
According to our bylaws, nominations should be made by Sponsor members and individual members. However, after chatting with all of the board members whose terms were ending and confirming they were interested in running again, I nominated all of the current members (excepting myself).
Additionally, some of our members didn’t receive their membership renewal due to the emails being flagged as spam. While this alone wouldn’t be enough for us to reschedule the election, it is something we want to fix to ensure that those who want to have a voice will be heard.
Next steps
Transparency is necessary to maintain the trust that we have built with our community. To rectify this situation and ensure we avoid it in the future, we are giving ourselves the following tasks:
- cancel the current election and reschedule it for 6 months from now
- extend the terms of the expiring board members
- assign a group from the board to simplify the process for our elections, and bring the proposals to the full board for ratification
In an email vote, the board unanimously approved this course of action and will be providing updates as appropriate going forward. Some of the things you can expect to see:
- A review of the membership committee guidelines (Adopted Nov ‘23), the AlmaLinux OS Foundation election processes and board terms (Adopted Apr ‘24), and the AlmaLinux OS Foundation Membership levels and Benefits (Adopted Apr ‘24)
- A new streamlined way to manage your membership at the AlmaLinux OS Foundation
The working group has been defined and has already begun the work. If you have questions for the board, we welcome them! The best place to ask them is in the ~foundation room on chat.almalinux.org, or via email to me, and I’ll forward them to the board.
Thank you for continue to put your trust in us, and for all of the things you continue to do for each other.
