The electorate should directly elect the At-Large board directors . A clear process should be established for putting candidates on a ballot - including a hybrid of a nominating committee and open petitions, coupled with baseline campaign rules. A clear sunset for the current rules should be established, along with a review process, to evaluate this year's election and suggest improvements for moving ahead. This evaluation should be done by a group independent of the existing board. Regardless of how the election proceeds, however, it must ultimately be viewed as a first experiment in democracy for this new technical management body.
Much work is needed to address and resolve the myriad of serious issues that have been raised.
This study is a joint effort of the Common Cause and the Center for Democracy and Technology. A non-profit public interest group based in Washington, D.C., Common Cause brings its knowledge of fair and democratic electoral processes to this study, as well as a fresh perspective on issues of Internet governance. CDT has extensive experience with Internet policy and technology issues relating to free expression, individual privacy, and open access to the Internet.