2018-2019 Elections Underway with Calls for Candidates and New Members

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, the Elections Committee posted the Schedule for the 2018-2019 openSUSE Board Elections, along with the announcement of a Membership Drive and a call for nominations and applications for Candidates to fill three vacant seats on the openSUSE Board.

The annual Board Elections are normally expected to run in November and December, with ballots cast and results published in time for the newly-elected Board Members to take their seats on the Board at the beginning of January. However, some additional work needed to be completed for this election, and the elections were delayed in part to accommodate the additional work.

A healthy Project requires a healthy and energetic Board, and that especially requires a healthy and energetic Membership composed of openSUSE Contributors, both to provide a slate of quality candidates and an enthusiastic group of engaged Contributors, to vote for candidates who best reflect their views for the future and the drive forward of the Project.

With that in mind, the current openSUSE Board – at the urging and with the full co-operation of the Elections Committee – clarified and updated the requirements for openSUSE Membership based on earlier engagements with the Community and a subsequent Board vote, as officially required under the Membership Rules, conducted at the annual Face to Face Board meeting earlier this year.

The changes to the rules are meant to ensure that all openSUSE Contributors have the opportunity to become a Member and to participate in the Guidance of the Project, as potential Board Candidates and as voters.

To encourage more participation in the Project, the Elections Committee announced the start of an eight-week Membership Drive in conjunction with the Call for Candidates. All Contributors who are not already Members are urged to apply for Membership, and all Members and Contributors are urged to encourage fellow Contributors and their associates to apply for Membership. More Members will also mean more Contributors, and more Contributors mean a healthier, stronger Project.

The Elections Committee would like to see the entire Community get behind this Membership Drive and participate in this Elections process.

Links for Board Candidate Nominations, applications for Candidacy, and applications for Community Membership, along with links to eligibility, can be found on the official 2018-2019 openSUSE Board Elections page at https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Board_election