[atlarge-discuss] No more excuses - respect the democratic will of the membership

["Richard Henderson" <richardhenderson@ntlworld.com>]

HelpI could grow weary of this malarky...

Are we or are we not "bottom up"?

Do we or do we not respect the democratic will of our membership?

1. A significant number of members have given us a strong indication of the wishes of the membership on (a) the need for a new panel (b) the desire for regular ballots (c) opposition to Icann's Ralos (d) a desire to create a structure for the At Large outside of Icann.

2. If we have any respect for "bottom up" we will embrace those wishes.

3. Some people then block that (and I won't crticise them for doing so) by saying the Poll was informal or incomplete. 

4. In that case, at the very least we should carry out an urgent "official" and complete ballot of our membership on those same questions, so the membership can confirm what I think is already perfectly obvious. To be honest, more people responded to the Poll than voted for our choice of name. We thought 170 votes was sufficient for choosing the name. Well 171 people voted in the Poll. But clarify what is already pretty obvious, if you wish.

5. To be honest, I think the participation of most of our active members is so evident, that I strongly urge the Panel to simply embrace the wishes expressed in the Poll without further ado.

I repeat:

Are we or are we not "bottom up"?

Do we or do we not respect the democratic will of our membership?

Again and again and again people in Icann contexts use layers of authority to block the actual principle of one member- one vote. The name of the game is: "The Leaders" or "The Panel" knows what is "best" for the members.

It's not good enough.

The whole principle we are fighting Icann for in the At Large is true democratic representation, based on the individual ballot. *That* is what Icann is running scared of.

How can we fight that battle, if we then ignore the democratic wishes of our own organisation?

Get with it, please! The logic is compelling.

There are strong indications of what our members *want*.

If you want clarification, just ask them again, formally.

But *DON'T IGNORE* them.

The members are the "bottom up"... then we must embrace and carry out their wishes.

New elections. Continuing polls. Abandonment of Icann's At Large plot.

Richard Henderson