Wikimedia Foundation elections committee

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The Wikimedia Foundation elections committee oversees, on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia community, elections to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.

History

Prior to 2016, each community election for the Board and FDC resulted in the creation of a temporary elections committee. On 7 November 2015, the Board of Trustees approved the formation of a standing elections committee. The founding members of the standing committee were announced on 20 July 2016.

Responsibilities

Board of Trustees elections

The Committee has responsibilities throughout every phase of the selection process for Community- and Affiliate-Selected Trustees, as established in Article IV, Section 3(C) in the Foundation Bylaws, including:

• Timeline – Work with staff to determine and communicate election timeline specifics, based on target end date set by the Board.
• Candidacy – Working with staff and in consultation with the Board, design the process for collecting and reviewing candidate declarations.
• Outreach – Work with staff to reach the various Wikimedia communities with information about the election, including * voting and the call for candidates.
• Volunteers – Determine whether additional volunteers are needed to assist with election administration, and work with staff to recruit and coordinate those volunteers.
• Communications – Review communications about the election drafted by staff and collaborate in determining when communications should be issued by the Committee, by staff, or by the Board.
• Evaluation – Assist in reviewing candidates based on criteria set by the Board.
• Campaigning – Set and enforce rules regarding how candidates can campaign, and oversee the process of asking candidates to answer campaign questions.
• Voting – Determine the voting method and voter eligibility criteria, and work with staff to determine the voting platform and review voter eligibility requests.
• Results – Review and announce vote results.

The Committee, staff, and the Board shall collaborate to create a more granular division of responsibilities, as needed. If necessary, the Board shall be the final arbiter of questions or disputes regarding roles and responsibilities. All aspects of the trustee selection process are subject to the Board’s authority, as defined by applicable law, by the Foundation Bylaws, and by other governing documents.

Other elections

The Board may enlist the advice and assistance of the Committee regarding Wikimedia elections for other positions, or other movement-wide votes.

Membership

Members serve terms of three years and are appointed by the Wikimedia Foundation Governance Committee, in consultation with sitting members of the Committee. Advisory members are non-voting members of the Committee serving terms of one year.

Current members

The committee consists of 8 members and 4 advisory non-voting members.

Name	Languages	Location (time zone)	Term starts	Term ends	Officers' role
AbhiSuryawanshi, Chair	en, hi, mr, pa, bn, bho, ur, kok	Various timezones	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026	Vice Chair (2023—2024)
Ameisenigel	de-N, en-4, nds-2, fr-1, tlh-1	Germany (UTC+1)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026
Carlojoseph14	tl, en-5, es-1, ceb-1	Philippines (UTC+8)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026
Der-Wir-Ing	de-N, en-4, fr-3	Germany (UTC+1)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026
Emufarmers	en-N, la-2	United States of America (UTC-4)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026
HakanIST	tr, en-4, az-3, es-2, de-1	Turkey (UTC+3)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026
KTC	en-N, yue-N	London, England (UTC+1)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026	Chair (2017—2024)
Mervat	en-4, ar-N, es-1, fr-1, ru-1	Jordan (UTC+3)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2026

Advisory members

Name	Languages	Location (time zone)	Term starts	Term ends	Notes
Arcuscloud	bjn-N, id-N, en-3	Indonesia (UTC+7)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2025	Reappointed in 2024
Guerillero	en-N, fr-1.5, da-0.5	Denmark (UTC+1)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2025	Reappointed in 2024
Nealmcb	en-N, eo-2, es-1	United States of America (UTC-7)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2025	Reappointed in 2024
ThadeusOfNazereth	en-N	United States of America (UTC-8)	June 1, 2023	May 31, 2025	Reappointed in 2024

Former members

Name	Period	Notes
Ajraddatz	July 20, 2016—January 24, 2020
Mardetanha	July 20, 2016—January 24, 2020
Ruslik0	July 20, 2016—May 31, 2023
Philippe	July 20, 2016—January 24, 2020
Atropine	July 20, 2016—January 24, 2020
Masssly	April 2, 2017—May 31, 2023
Matanya	April 2, 2017—May 31, 2024	Voting member (2017—23); advisory member (2023—24)
ProtoplasmaKid	January 24, 2020—May 31, 2023

Liaison and staff

Board liaison

• Nataliia Tymkiv

Supporting staff

The Wikimedia Foundation staff assigned to support the Committee in its operations and help the Committee to function effectively.

• Ramzy Muliawan, Committee Support
• Keegan Peterzell, Committee Support
• Jack Glover, Committee Support
• Charles Roslof, Legal
• Joe Sutherland, Community Resilience and Sustainability
• Jackie Koerner, Community Resilience and Sustainability
• Margo Lee, Office of the Chief Executive Officer