Iranian Wikimedians UG meeting 2024/Outcomes/Structure (en)

برای نسخهٔ فارسی اینجا را ببینید: ساختار

At the Iranian Wikimedians User Group meeting held from September 20 to 22, 2024, in Istanbul, the participants reached conclusions and decisions regarding the following matters. Given the current conditions of the group and the lack of a proper structure, these decisions will remain in force for the next six months (until 21 March 2025). After this period, once the Board of Trustees is formed, the decision-making authority will be transferred to that body.

Group members and interested parties can share their opinions and suggestions on these decisions and future plans during the group’s monthly meetings. As a result, decisions may be subject to change.

Membership

Currently, any user who has an account on one of the Wikimedia Foundation’s projects can become a member of this user group by adding their name to the Iranian Wikimedians User Group page. Discussions regarding membership through paid subscriptions were also held, but due to a lack of sufficient infrastructure and the potential for legal complications, implementing such a system is currently not feasible. Details of these discussions will be provided to the future Board of Trustees, who will decide based on the conditions at that time.

Group members are entitled to participate in elections and group-related polls, and all of them have equal voting and opinion rights. The voting and election participation conditions are mentioned in the Board of Trustees section.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees consists of five members, elected through a public vote by the group members for a term of two years (24 months). The Board of Trustees is responsible for decision-making on financial matters, future programs, and the group’s policies. Two members of the Board must take on specific responsibilities: one as the Chair of the Board, and the other as the Treasurer. Due to special conditions in Iran, the Treasurer and one other member must reside outside of Iran and sign a confidentiality agreement with the Wikimedia Foundation.

All participants emphasized the necessity of forming the Board of Trustees, and the final consensus was that due to the lack of time to hold elections and the young nature of the community, the formation of the Board will be postponed for six months. In the meantime, decision-making will be based on the opinions of the co-founders, Darafsh and Ladsgroup, and once the Board of Trustees is formed, their powers will be transferred.

Board of Trustees Members

The Board consists of five members who receive the most votes in the election, and all of them have equal voting rights. The selection of the Chair, Treasurer, and the definition of other roles is based on internal consensus among the Board members and is not related to the number of votes they received in the election.

Chair of the Board of Trustees
Treasurer
Member
Member
Member

Elections

The process of electing the members of the Board of Trustees will begin on 1 Ordibehesht 1404 (April 21, 2025), and candidates will have two weeks to declare their candidacy. The election period will also last for two weeks and can be extended by one additional week at the discretion of the Election Committee.

Candidate Requirements

Those running for the Board of Trustees must meet the following criteria:

The candidate must be a member of the Iranian Wikimedians User Group.
The candidate must have an account on at least one of the Wikimedia Foundation’s projects.
After being elected as a member of the Board of Trustees, they must disclose their real identity to the Wikimedia Foundation (by submitting identification documents).

Voter Requirements

During the Board of Trustees election, only members who meet the following criteria can participate:

They must have been a member of the Iranian Wikimedians User Group for at least one month (30 days) before the election.
They must have made at least 500 global edits across Wikimedia projects in the six months (180 days) leading up to the election.
Exception: Those who do not meet the above conditions but have contributed to the Iranian Wikimedians User Group in other ways can contact the Election Committee and, if approved, will be granted the right to vote.

Election Committee

The Election Committee for the Board of Trustees election consists of at least two members responsible for organizing the election, validating votes, and announcing the results. Due to a conflict of interest, members of this committee cannot run for the Board of Trustees, but if they meet the criteria, they can vote.

Voting Process

Several proposals were put forward regarding the voting and vote-counting methods, and it was finally decided to adopt a system similar to the one used by the Arbitration Committee of German Wikipedia.

Voting will be public, and participants will only be allowed to vote "support" or "oppose".
The top five individuals with the most votes will become members of the Board of Trustees.
Scrutiny of suspicious voters for inspection is allowed.
The election results will be finalized by stewards on Meta.