Loomio
Mon 16 Dec 2019 12:19AM

Formalising voting and validity of decision-making processes

P pospi Public Seen by 8

We need to create some structure around our use of Loomio, and our operational processes for making decisions in meetings. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • How we aim to achieve a consent-driven decision making process

  • Quorum thresholds for passing votes

  • Delegation of authority (on particular topics, or an ongoing basis)

  • Handling of absentees and abstaining votes

P

pospi Mon 24 Feb 2020 6:05AM

I'd like to move this topic forward before we run into a situation where momentum is blocked due to unclear decision-making protocol. Are there any contentious items in the above, or would all be happy to adopt this as an initial version and evolve & adapt it as we move forward?

P

pospi Mon 16 Dec 2019 12:31AM

These are my initial thoughts, based on prior experience in using Loomio for governance of a small eco-village:

  • Aim for full consent, only resort to voting in cases where there is disagreement on an issue

  • Require 75% quorum for a passing vote (maybe this figure needs to be fiddled depending on the initial active member size)

  • I don't think we should have "ongoing delegation" where one person can say "I don't want to vote, I always vote with so-and-so". In my experience this leads to dis-engagement from some, and power aggregation in others. The issue we originally experienced whereby we allowed this was people being dis-engaged due to overload. But I think we can solve that problem in a better way via federating into working groups.

  • I do think we should be able to delegate a vote on a particular issue if that seems necessary. Doing so requires that an explicit note of approval for another to vote on one's behalf be recorded on Loomio, alongside an "abstain" vote.

  • Votes are invalid unless "abstain" and "block" options are included (adding this in after Bob raised queries in another thread)

  • Absentee and abstaining votes are not counted in quorum tallies, unless the abstaining vote is recorded as a delegated vote. Note that this requires a formalisation of meeting and vote invite procedures in order to work, so...

  • For group-wide decisions, all members of the collective must be invited to the vote in order for it to be considered valid.

  • For decisions being made within working groups, all members of the working group must be invited to vote in order for it to be considered valid.

  • Working groups must report back to the wider collective with the outcomes of all votes they take (one aspect of this is record-keeping; the other is observability and notifications)