[CCWG-ACCT] Voting weights in community mechanism

[Mathieu Weill]

Dear Colleagues,

You will remember that our Initial Report Reference Model on voting 
weights was 5 votes for ccNSO, gNSO, ASO, ALAC and GAC, 2 for SSAC and 
RSSAC. During the public comment period, we have received some comments 
(largely debated since on the list) with regards to the respective 
number of votes of gNSO and ALAC, and these are well noted.

During our call on Tuesday we discussed the voting weight section of the 
community mechanism proposal and asked for WP1 to refine its proposal 
accordingly. The topic was then discussed again during the WP1 call that 
followed a few hours later. WP1 agreed to submit to our group a proposal 
with 5 votes for each SO or AC, pending intentions from GAC, SSAC and 
RSSAC to joint the mechanism as voting members. (see latest doc here : 
https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/52888421/5A2-Community-Mechanism-Voting-PenultimateDraft.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1438079125000&api=v2)

A concern has come to our attention with this latest, new, proposal. If 
SSAC and RSSAC have 10 votes out of 35, they could jointly block a Board 
recall (75% votes required, 27 votes). Since they are both composed of 
individuals appointed by the Board, some may question their independence 
in case such a power is triggered. This could raise concerns of 
conflicts of interest.

We discussed this between co-chairs and with Jordan as WP1 rapporteurs, 
and as a consequence would like to suggest we go back to the initial 
Reference model (5x5 and 2x2 votes) as a basis for our public comment 
document.

This proposal will be on our agenda for Thursday's calls but we wanted 
to provide this heads-up in advance in order to facilitate an informed 
discussion.

Best regards,
Thomas, Leon & Mathieu
Co-chairs