Merge pull request #6784 from jberkus/nuelecdocs

Begin new Steering Committee election docs

elections/README.md

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ for that should be:
 
 Election Officers should be chosen from among regular, trusted contributors to the 
 Kubernetes project, with an eye towards employer, demographic, and geographic
-diversity.
+diversity.  Further requirements can be found in the [Steering Election documentation].
 
 Election Officers are considered part of the Elections Subproject.
 
@@ -114,3 +114,4 @@ meeting.
 [elections app]: https://elections.k8s.io
 [requesting an election]: teams/README.md
 [K8s-Infra]: /sig-k8s-infra/README.md
+[Steering Election documentation]: /elections/steering/README.md

elections/steering/documentation/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# Steering Election HOWTO
+
+This documentation explains how to run a steering election.  As a work in
+progress, it replaces older documentation where present; for topics not
+covered consult the older documents in each election folder.
+
+## Documentation contents
+
+* This guide, which covers all process and roles.
+* A folder of templates, primarily for election-related communications
+* Current SQL query or devstats report for selecting voters
+
+## Roles
+
+### The Elections Subproject
+
+Members of the [Elections Subproject](elections/README.md) have three 
+responsibilities around steering elections:
+
+1. Recommending Election Officers to the Steering Committee
+2. Intervening if anything unexpected happens with the EOs
+3. Following up on recommendations from the election retro
+
+### The Election Officers
+
+The Election Officers are three trusted contributors who will run one or two
+Steering elections.  They are responsible for making sure that the election
+happens and completes satisfactorily.
+
+Election Officers must meet the following requirements:
+
+* Org member for more than one year
+* Eligible to vote in the election
+* Pledge to administer the election without partiality to any employer, SIG, 
+  or personal preference
+* Tentatively available for two elections in a row (see below)
+* Tentatively available for special elections in the upcoming year (see below)
+
+Additionally, the Elections Subproject will choose Election Officers partly to
+respresent the diversity of Kubernetes contributors, selecting different
+genders, geographic regions, and ethnicities where possible, in order to 
+avoid the appearance of bias in the elections process.  Particularly, the
+three Officers must each work for a different employer.
+
+Election Officers are responsible for:
+
+* Planning the election, including creating a draft timeline
+* Generating the voter list
+* Setting up the election in the voting system
+* Deciding on exception requests
+* Determining candidate eligibility
+* Assisting candidates with bios
+* Publicizing the election in order to maximize participation
+* Finalizing and reporting the election results
+* Hosting an election retro & documenting changes
+* Contributing to the SC election documentation
+
+These responsibilities are detailed in the election procedures.  They collectively
+fall in to four main areas, timewise:
+
+1. Communications with candidates and voters (together with the Comms Liaison)
+2. Administering the election software (together with the Infra Liaison)
+3. Managing nominations and candidates
+4. Responding to exception requests
+
+Usually, the three Election Officers divide up the above major responsibilities
+among the team, each Officer taking one or two of them.
+
+Each year, at least one Election Officer must be a prior Officer in order to
+ensure continuity of knowledge. As such, Officers should be theoretically 
+available to do the elections two years in a row.  Further, should a special
+election become necessary because of the resignation of an SC member mid-year,
+this year's Officers are responsible for running the special election, so 
+any Officers should be at least tentatively available for that.
+
+### Alternate Election Officer
+
+In addition to the three Officers, the Elections Subproject will recommend one
+Alternate.  This Alternate is available in case one of the Officers is unable
+to complete the election, or is unavailable for post-election duties (such as
+a special election).  Any current Officer may activate the Alternate if 
+any Officer resigns or is unavailable.
+
+The Alternate will be added to the Election Officers slack, but will have no
+duties and will not participate in votes unless activated.
+
+### K8s Infra Liaison
+
+Currently election software runs on the Kubernetes cluster owned by the k8s-infra
+team.  As such, the Election Officers may need troubleshooting and support from
+k8s-infra in case of unexpected problems with the Elekto deployment or changes 
+needed to the software.
+
+As such, before the election starts, the Officers should reach out to k8s-infra
+team and request one person who will be available to assist.  This person should
+be available during most of the election period.  They must have the ability
+to approve/modify services running on k8s.io.
+
+If one of the Officers has these permissions, they may also serve in this role.
+
+### Contributor-Comms Liaison
+
+A big part of the election effort is making sure that voters and candidates
+are aware of the election and kept up to date with constant reminders.  As such,
+the Officers work directly with Contributor-Comms to send out a stream of
+messages to the community.  
+
+Well before the election starts, the Officers should reach out to contributor-comms
+and ask them to assign one team member to handle election communications.  
+This Comms member needs to have the ability to approve tweets.
+
+If one of the Officers is a member of Contributor-Comms, they may double up
+in this role.
+
+[Elections Subproject]: /elections/README.md