You may have seen the announcement already: it's voting time once again. Our Board is looking for people to replace three valued members who recently resigned.

The Board of Directors of Open Source Matters, Inc. (the organisation behind Joomla) provides organisational, legal and financial support to the Joomla Project. In other words: the board facilitates Joomla so we can all use, maintain and improve it. At the moment of writing, open positions are Secretary, Treasurer and Operations Department Coordinator to replace three board members who resigned.  

This article explains every step of the election process, from the call for candidates to the voting results. 

Step 1: Call for candidates 

If you’re interested in one of these roles, the first thing you need to do is to write a manifesto that contains your ideas and your plans, and submit it before the deadline. Check the calls for manifestos here: https://community.joomla.org. This is also the place to go if you want to see the timeline or want to know more about the election process.

Step 2: Manifestos published

A few days after the deadline, the manifestos are published on https://community.joomla.org. In their manifestos, candidates tell us why they're interested in the role and what they will bring to Joomla, so if you want to know who you can vote for, this is a good starting point (but not the only one, see next paragraphs).

Step 3: Recommendations

Once the manifestos are published, there’s a period of time when people can write a recommendation for the candidate(s). A call for this will also be published on the Community website. Recommendations make interesting reading material: they show you who is in favour of the candidate and why.

Step 4: Get to know the candidate(s)

Board members have an obligation towards Joomla and its community. They should be the ones supporting, encouraging and enabling the teams that make it happen. It can be difficult for us, as voters, to know if the candidates are up for this important task. Should you rely on the manifesto and hope for the best?

No.

A manifesto is just a statement. It may say something about the candidate’s ideas and plans, but anyone could write that. It doesn't show you how they communicate, work and lead. For that, you need to see them in action. The good news is: you can.

For each role, dedicated Mattermost channels are opened where anyone can ask questions and get in touch with the candidate(s). 

This is your chance to find out more. What do the candidates know about our community? How do they respond to difficult questions? How realistic are their ambitions? Do they know what will be expected from them? Are they the candidate you want to be represented by? Use this opportunity to get informed and be able to vote wisely.

Here’s how to join Joomla’s Mattermost channel: https://magazine.joomla.org/all-issues/november-2022/getting-the-most-out-of-mattermost.  

Step 5: Voting starts

And then it’s up to the Joomla Community to pick the best candidate for each role. Everyone who is a member of an official Joomla team can vote in the Secretary and Treasurer election. For Operations DC, you can vote if you’re a member of an official team in the Operations Department.

If you’re allowed to vote, you will receive an email with a voting link. This link leads to a voting form that has three options:

1. Vote for a candidate 
2. Abstain 
3. None of the Above

The difference between the last two is that abstaining doesn’t count as a vote whereas None of the above counts as a vote against the candidate(s). 

Disclaimer: this is the part where this article might become a bit opinionated.

In previous elections I’ve often heard: “We need someone and this is someone”. That is not a valid reason to vote for a candidate. It could work out well, but it could also end badly for Joomla.

Valid reasons to vote for a candidate could be:

• The candidate has proven they’re able to do the job, for example in a previous term or another role in leadership 
• You know the candidate very well and you are sure they can do it
• You don't know the candidate very well, but they seem capable and you're willing and able to help them grow in their role
• The candidate has people skills
• Their manifesto is focused on Joomla and on making it better, together.

Reasons to not vote for a candidate, or to vote None of the Above could be:

• None of the candidates are suitable for the job
• The candidate is known for picking fights, attacking people, threatening or bullying 
• The candidate has unrealistic ambitions or promises very drastic changes
• The candidate doesn’t show any respect for their predecessors and/or the community, or lacks people skills entirely 
• The manifesto shows very little “we”, “together”, “team”, “listen” and “community”
• The candidate is clearly in it for themselves.

Does voting None of the Above sound a bit harsh to you? I beg to differ. We deserve to have good people in leadership roles. Our 20 years history has proven over time: if someone is not up for it, incapable, or in it for the wrong reasons, there’s no way they could ever be a happy and committed board member that helps Joomla forward. 

Reasons to abstain: 

I can't think of a single valid reason to abstain. If you can't choose between candidates because they’re all good and fit for the job, pick the one who has the best chance of winning or pick one randomly. If you can’t choose because none of the candidates are right for the role, vote None of the Above.

Step 6: Results published

The candidate with the most votes is elected. The handover process begins and the new Board Member starts in their new role!

What happens if None of the Above gets the most votes: then none of the candidates are elected and the process starts over, giving other people a chance to put themselves forward. 

Thank you

I’d like to give a huge Thank You to Philip Walton, Carlos Cámara and Nadja Lamisch for taking on these roles, dedicating their time and putting effort into making Joomla the best it can be! I’m really sorry you had to resign. Thank you for being our trusted, loyal and committed representatives.