Board Election for Three Seats Opens

Members of the openSUSE’s election committee have provided notice to the project about the start of this year’s board election. This election there are three board seats up for grabs.

The election begins its nomination process on Nov. 15 and invites all eligible openSUSE members to participate in shaping the community’s future.

The open seats are currently held by Douglas DeMaio, Neal Gompa, and Patrick Fitzgerald. Board members serve as guides for the community, oversee some key project functions, facilitate community initiatives and handle responsibilities from organizing board meetings to managing openSUSE domains and trademarks. They also play a role in upholding community standards, including overseeing complaint processes and ensuring compliance with openSUSE’s Code of Conduct.

Election Timeline The election process will unfold over the next month. The plan is to follow this official schedule:

• Nov. 15: Official announcement, nominations open, membership drive begins
• Nov. 30: Final candidate list announced; campaign begins
• Dec. 1: Voting opens
• Dec. 15: Voting closes
• Dec. 16: Election results announced

How to Participate Any openSUSE member can stand for election by sending an email to project@lists.opensuse.org and election-officials@lists.opensuse.org. Members may also nominate others by contacting the Election Committee, who will follow up with the nominee to confirm their interest.

Eligibility Requirements According to the organization’s Election Rules, only current members are eligible to run for board positions. While new members are welcome to join during the membership drive and participate in the voting process, they will not be eligible to stand as candidates. The election committee overseeing this year’s event includes members Ish Sookun, Edwin Zakaria, and Ariez Vachha. The committee is responsible for ensuring a smooth election process and for finalizing the list of candidates by Nov. 30.