Prepare for ARIN Elections in Six Easy Steps

By Jason Byrne – Senior Customer Success Analyst

Voting is a critical part of membership, as it helps direct the future of ARIN governance and the evolution of Internet number resource policy. As we approach the culmination of the 2022 ARIN Elections, we encourage you to take some time to create a voting plan to help you learn about this year’s candidates running for the Board of Trustees, Advisory Council (AC), and NRO Number Council (NRO NC).

To make things as easy as possible, we’ve laid out six simple steps you can take to prepare yourself in the lead up to Thursday, 20 October, when voting opens.

1. Get to Know the Candidates

First and foremost, get to know your candidates! This year we have an additional open seat to fill on the Board as a result of the recent Bylaws revision allowing for its phased expansion from six to nine elected Trustees. This means there are a total of three open seats on the Board. As there are no changes to the size of the 15-member AC, five open seats will be up for election. Due to additional Election Process changes, there is no petition period this year as all nominees were advanced to the 2022 Slate of Candidates — the roster announced 6 September is both the Initial and Final Slate.

This is also a year in which the ARIN community votes to select someone to represent the entire ARIN region within the NRO NC.

We created a Voter Guide to provide you with all the details you need to know about the candidates. The guide includes information from each candidate about their job experience, education, related experience, views on the future of ARIN, and much more.

2. Participate in the General Member Mailing List

All candidates for the Board, AC, and NRO NC are subscribed to the General Member Mailing List where they are available to answer questions from the voting community. If your organization is a General Member at ARIN and plans to vote this year, we encourage you to join the mailing list as well to be part of the dialogue with candidates and to keep informed of ARIN Election activity.

3. Read or Make Statements of Support

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the candidates, take time to think about the issues that are key to you, your organization, and your community and to determine the representative(s) you believe will best represent the concerns that are most important to you. Then you can move on to reading and/or making statements of support. This is a great way to support your candidate(s) of choice and learn about what others in the community are saying.

4. Submit and Rank Questions to Be Answered at the Candidate Forums

Beginning today, 29 September, we are asking the community to send in questions they’d like to hear answered at the Board and AC Candidate Forums taking place Thursday, 20 October, during the ARIN 50 Election Forum. You can anonymously submit as many questions as you like using our online form. Submissions will be accepted through 5:00 PM EDT on Thursday, 6 October.

Then we will want to find out which of these suggested questions are most interesting or important to you. On Monday, 10 October, we will invite the community to rank the questions we received by completing an anonymous survey by 5:00 PM EDT on Monday, 17 October.

5. Attend the ARIN 50 Election Forum

This year’s Election Forum will be held Thursday, 20 October, from 1:30-4:45 PM PDT as part of the ARIN 50 Public Policy and Members Meeting in Hollywood, CA, and online. Dedicated to the candidates running for the Board, AC, and NRO NC, this event will include candidate speeches and the Board and AC Candidate Forums featuring the questions sourced from and ranked by the community. Registration — and additional information — is available on the ARIN 50 website.

6. Cast Your Vote!

Great! You’ve learned about the candidates, participated in the General Members Mailing List, viewed or written statements of support, helped us narrow down what you’d like the candidates to discuss at the panel, and attended the Election Forum. Now it’s time to plan when, where, and how you’ll be casting your vote.

Don’t forget that casting a ballot is now part of maintaining your organization’s General Member status. Following the 2023 ARIN election and each election thereafter, General Members that did not cast a ballot in any of the previous three ARIN elections will revert to Service Member status.

NRO NC Voting for NANOG and ARIN Meeting Attendees
As the NRO NC representative is selected by the entire community within an RIR’s region, rather than just the ARIN membership, voting in this election is open to all NANOG 86 and ARIN 50 meeting attendees (excluding existing voting contacts) who registered by 3:00 PM EDT on Thursday, 13 October 2022. These voters will receive an email with a link to vote from 3:00 PM EDT on Monday, 17 October 2022, through 7:00 PM EDT on Friday, 28 October 2022

ARIN Elections for General Members
In 2022, Voting Contacts for eligible General Members may cast ballots for the Board, AC, and NRO NC. Voting opens at 3:00 PM EDT Thursday, 20 October 2022, and closes at 7:00 PM EDT on Friday, 28 October 2022.

Please note that to vote in ARIN Elections, an individual must have been the designated Voting Contact for a General Member in Good Standing and have a valid ARIN Online account as of 5 September 2022.

Voting is simple and requires just a few minutes of your time. Your ballot can be cast online from the comfort of your office, home, or mobile device anytime during the voting period. To access and cast your ballot, log in to your ARIN Online account and click on the “Vote Now” link located on your dashboard.

Prior to the opening of the voting period, the Election System Instructions page will be updated to provide walkthroughs with screenshots to help you navigate the new election system ARIN is using this year.

Easy as 1-2-3-4-5-6

There you have it! In just six simple steps you’ll be ready to vote in our 2022 elections and fulfill a vital community responsibility by helping shape the future of ARIN and the Internet as a whole. We thank you in advance for your participation in this year’s elections. If you have any questions throughout this process, please email elections@arin.net and visit our election headquarters to learn more.

Post written by:

Jason Byrne
Senior Customer Success Analyst

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