Elections

Each year, all four Miner Groups elect a new set of Council Members to represent their interests on Miner Councils. The following section first provides context by describing the attributes of the system involved, the actors, and the governance system which structure election ceremonies and then describes the election ceremony process, its outcomes, and evaluative criteria that could be used by to determine which outcomes the community would deem satisfactory.

Election Rules: Overview

• Elections | Rules
• Description | Annual ceremony in which all four Miner Groups elect all Council Members.
• Frequency | Every 12 months
• Duration | 7 days
• Nomination Rules | Candidates submit only one nomination application to the Telcoin forum at most 1 month and at least 24 hours prior to the election.
• Proposal Rules | TAO Members must submit election proposals for every Miner Council to every Miner Group including all eligible candidates from the past month.
• Voting Rules | All four Miner Groups elect all of their representatives into Council Members positions in five separate election proposals on each Group’s Snapshot.
• Approval | Plurality, the candidate(s) with the most votes win.
• Quorum | 20%
• Outcome | The candidates with the most votes win and are transferred Council Member governance NFTs, conferring them proposal, voting authority and a flow of TEL issuance. In the event a quorum is not reached on any given election proposal, the TAO will vote on behalf of the Miner Group until a quorum is met.

Elections: Nomination Rules

• Candidates | Required Attributes | Required Actions | Nominations Channel
• Platform Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the Platform Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum at most 1 month and at least 24 hours prior to an election. | (Coming Soon)
• Treasury Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the Treasury Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum at most 1 month and at least 24 hours prior to an election. | (Coming Soon)
• Compliance Council | All miners with a juris doctorate degree are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the Compliance Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum at most 1 month and at least 24 hours prior to an election. | (Coming Soon)
• TAN Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the TAN Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum at most 1 month and at least 24 hours prior to an election. | (Coming Soon)
• TELx Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the TELx Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum at most 1 month and at least 24 hours prior to an election. | (Coming Soon)

Elections: Ceremony and Outcomes

1. Nominations: Candidates submit their nomination applications to the proper channel on the Telcoin forum.
2. Election Proposal: The TAO submits election proposals for all of the Miner Councils to each Miner Group including all valid nominees from the forum, submitted to all four Miner Group Snapshots for voting.
3. Miner Voting: Miners vote for candidates over a 7 day period from the time the election proposal was submitted.
4. Council Member Selection: After the 7 day election period ends, newly elected Council Members are automatically transferred a governance NFT conferring them proposal and voting rights over their jurisdictional domain and an ongoing stream of TEL issuance.
   1. Outcomes
      1. Quorum is met: After 7 days, the elected Council Members with the most votes from their constituency will be transferred the governance NFT conferring them authority and an ongoing stream of TEL issuance to their wallet.
      2. Quorum is not met: In the event a Miner Group fails to reach a quorum, the Telcoin Foundation will substitute and vote on behalf of the Miner Group in the Council Member position.

• Note: Review the Compliance Council Improvement Process[CCIP] for information related to the Council Member authorization process after elections.

Evaluative Criteria

Consistency with Shared Values: Is the proposed election consistent with the the Mission, Vision, Values defined in Article 4.1 (a-c) of the Telcoin Association Constitution?

• Overview: The Telcoin Association Constitution is a living, breathing document subject to indefinite adaptation by the Miner Assembly. The mission, vision, and values, collectively (’Mission’) found in Article 4.1(a, b, c) serves as a moral basis used by Miners to interpret and determine what actions and outcomes are acceptable in governance processes.

Compliance with collective-choice rules: Did the election process follow the collective-choice rules regulating the process and outcomes?

Council Member Selection Rules:

Voting and Representation Rules

Participation: To what extent are Miner Groups participating in council member selection and co-production processes? To what extent are Council Members participating in deliberation and co-production processes with other Miners?

• Definition and Importance
  • Definition: Measured by the number of actors and their level of involvement in associated processes.
  • Importance: Participation tends to increase legitimacy; co-production can be especially effective form of participation.
• Indicators: Miners and Council Members
  • Miners: Co-production and council member selection
    • Co-Production: The number of Miners with staked TEL in Miner production processes,
    • Council Member Selection: The number of voters in council member selection processes as measured by quorum rates, and the overall number of election processes undertaken by Miner Groups to keep Council Members accountable.
  • Council Members: Co-production and deliberation
    • Co-Production: The number of Council Members with TEL staked in which production processes.
    • Deliberation: The amount of interaction between a Council Member and the community in determining community preferences related to their domain.

Legitimacy: Do individual miners within a Miner Group view a given election process undertaken by their Miner Group as legitimate?

• Definition and Importance
  • Definition: Legitimacy as seen by participants in decision processes.
  • Importance: Lack of legitimacy as seen by participants may lead to conflict between actors and reduce participation rates.
• Indicators
  • Approval and Quorum Rates: High approval and quorum rates are a meaningful indicator of legitimacy by a miner group.
  • Deliberation: How much time did the Miner Group spend interacting with candidates?

Accountability: Are the Council Members actively made accountable to Miner Groups concerning the policies and rules they choose?

• Definition and Importance
  • Definition: When evaluating collective-choice or constitutional-choice levels, one can ask whether officials are accountable to citizens concerning the policies and rules chosen.
    • Importance: Without accountability, actors can engage in the various opportunistic, strategic behaviors. Achieving accountability requires that information about the preferences of citizens be available to decision makers.
• Indicators: Council Members must be accountable to Miners concerning the rules and improvements they implement, and the election process is a mechanism used by Miners to enforce their preferences.
  • Information-sharing: The community has numerous forums and ample time within deliberation processes to share their preferences with Council members.
  • Enforcement Actions: If the Council proposes to implement something the community of Miners disagrees with, are Miner Groups replacing Members using election processes?