ballot on 152 - option to abstain added

[Diane Jordan <drj@us.ibm.com>]

Its been pointed out to me that the
ballots I opened on Friday don't have the option to abstain.  If you
want to abstain from votine for a second or third choice, all you have
to do is not vote on those ballots.  If you'd like to abstain from
the vote completely, I've added a new ballot where you can indicate that.
 

Alternatively, you can just not vote
on any of the ballots and this will be treated as an abstention.  However,
you will then not be included in the quorum calculation for the vote.  This
could cause us to fail to resolve the issue, although from response so
far this doesn't seem likely. There is a rule regarding participation in
ballots to maintain your membership status - since these ballots are running
simultaneously they would only count as one ballot for that rule.  The
main scenario where the ballot to abstain will be needed is if you vote
on one of the other ballot choices for 152 and then change your mind and
want to abstain, you cannot do it.  In case of this, I've allowed
a "write in" option for the ballot to abstain where you can explain
exactly which choice you want to change to an abstention if you need to.
    

I apologize for the confusion - let
me know if you have questions.  

Regards, Diane
IBM  Emerging Internet Software Standards
drj@us.ibm.com
(919)254-7221 or 8-444-7221, Mobile: 919-624-5123, Fax 845-491-5709