📮 2025 GC.OS elections to board of directors

DRAFT document for internal discussion.

PLEASE NOTE: FORMS IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE NOT LIVE AND SHOULD NOT BE USED YET

Modelled upon GC.OS elections process.

📣 GC.OS is holding its first set of board elections!

• ☀️ We believe in open source and open science. We think AI technology - especially open source - should be openly governed.

• 🗽 Open governance means: any contributor has the right to participate in governance and decision making. Eligibility is defined by merit, not place of birth, social class, or connectedness to majority demographic entrepeneurship networks.

• 🎩 💰 Not all open source is openly governed. Many open source projects are run closed by companies, taking advantage of contributors for the benefit of a small group of individuals.

🌐 GC.OS takes inspiration from Wikipedia, and aspires to become an open knowledge hub, providing opportunities to everyone.

What positions are open?

All seven seats on the board are open for election:

• four of the seats for election by all contributors
• three of the seats for election by the current founders board

The above is a variant of opening four seats, with three seats in continuity with the current founders board

As this is the first cohort of elected councilors, tenure for the open positions will vary between 1 and 3 years. In particular there will be:

• 2 seats open with a 3-year tenure.
• 3 seats open with a 2-year tenure.
• 2 seats open with a 1-year tenure.

See detail description here.

What are the rights and duties of councilors?

The board of directors is the primary executive body of GC.OS, councilors decide on matters such as project direction or financials, subject to the GC.OS mission and code of conduct.

Details on GC.OS governance here

A key expectation is that councilors will proactively contribute to the widening of GC.OS's governance model and charitable mission.

Who is eligible to vote or to stand?

• Any contributor (having an all-contributors badge by the voter registration deadline) can vote in this election.

  • voter registration is required, see timelines
  • a discord account on the GC.OS discord is required to vote

• Contributors with a frequent and substantial contribution history can stand as councilors, this includes non-code contributions. Specifics are summarized in the eligibility criteria here.

  • if you are not sure whether you can stand, ping arbitration-committee on the GC.OS discord
  • candidate registration is required, see timelines

How are votes counted?

• votes are ranked preference statements of candidates
• sets are assigned by "largest vote count at or above rank, among unseated candidates" principle
• subject to exclusion criteria, e.g., no two candidates with same primary affiliation can win a seat

See full voting schema here.

Timelines

All times are midnight UTC, end of the day.

• 2025-12-01 - voter registration opens
• 2025-12-08 - candidate registration opens
• 2025-12-22 - voter and candidate registration deadline
• 2025-12-23 - candidate statements published
• 2025-12-24 - election period opens
• 2025-12-31 - election period closes
• 2026-01-07 or earlier - results are announced

Todos - voters

1. read the eligibility criteria here
2. 2025-12-22 or before - check the all-contributors file whether you have a badge. If not, open a PR asap with pointers to your contribution. If a user, note that filling out the user feedback form counts as contribution towards a badge.
3. 2025-12-22 or before - fill out and submit voter registration form TEST FORM, NOT IN USE NOTE: THIS IS AN OLD FORM
4. 2025-12-24 or after - read candidate statements published here
5. until 2025-12-31 - optional: participate in candidate Q&A
6. 2025-12-24 - 2024-12-31 - vote on discord

Todos - candidates

1. read the eligibility criteria here
2. 2025-12-08 - read information published at opening of candidate registration (discord link)
3. 2025-12-22 or before - register and submit a candidate statement - candidate registration form TEST FORM, NOT IN USE
4. until 2025-12-31 - participate candidate Q&A
5. 2025-12-24 - 2025-12-31 - vote on discord
6. 2026-01-07 or earlier - results are announced. If successful, you will receive communication on onboarding.