Afrinic: African registry board election interrupted
The African IP address administrator Afrinic cannot rest. Once again, the ongoing election for a new board of directors has been interrupted.
(Image: momente/Shutterstock.com)
The election of a new board of directors for the African IP address allocation center Afrinic has been interrupted again. After an online vote, members had the opportunity to cast their votes in person at a hotel in Ebène City on Mauritius on Monday. Numerous proxies had to be checked first, explained the chairman of the nomination committee, Simon Davenport, during the live broadcast of the election on Monday.
He hoped that the review could be completed quickly, said Davenport. Until then, the election process had been halted, including the possibility of electronic voting. Whether the online voting procedure should therefore be extended will be decided at a later date.
Numerous proxies
As the archived recording of election day shows, individual participants had submitted numerous proxies to cast votes for Afrinic members. Among other things, one person can be seen throwing over 50 ballot papers into the ballot box.
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The election committee will now have to examine whether this contradicts the election rules and Afrinic's statutes, according to which a member may only represent up to five other members. It was also reported by members that proxies had also been granted using outdated forms that do not meet the requirements of the election.
The administrator had previously responded to concerns about possible attempts to influence the election process by appointing a nomination committee made up exclusively of British lawyers and chaired by Davenport. The outcome of the committee's examination of the powers of attorney is now eagerly awaited.
Hope for stability
After more than two years in which Afrinic was without a board and under forced administration, the board election should finally bring stability. The organization had gradually lost its ability to act in the course of a bitter legal dispute with the companies Cloud Innovation and Larus.
The administrator himself was recently caught in the crossfire of criticism after Cloud Innovation was entered as a partner and member in Afrinic's entry in the commercial register. This entry has since been withdrawn as “erroneous”.
(dmk)
