The requirements for IAB decisions are documented in RFC 2850:
3.5 Decision taking
The IAB attempts to reach all decisions unanimously. If unanimity
cannot be achieved, the chair may conduct informal polls to determine
consensus. The IAB may make decisions and take action if at least
seven full members concur and there are no more than two dissents.The IAB may reach decisions by face to face meeting, teleconference,
Internet communication, or any combination of the above.
While all IAB decisions that meet these criteria are valid, in practice it is
useful to have guidelines to assure that decisions have adequate consideration
by all IAB members.
Practically, in most day-to-day business, the chair will determine consensus
based on the absence of dissenting positions being put forward in a reasonable
time. However, some decisions are deemed important enough or controversial
enough to require a formal vote. This document outlines the process used by the
IAB to make such decisions.
Votes can either use open or secret ballots. The first step in the process is
for the IAB chair to determine whether it will be held open or secret.
By default, votes should be open.
Open ballots are only shared with voting members (IAB members minus
disqualified and recused members).
Open ballots can be submitted either by email to the list of voting members
or as verbal votes during an IAB teleconference.
Secret ballots are only shared with the Executive Director and Chair.
If there is no consensus among voting members on whether a vote should be
open or secret, the vote will be by secret ballot.
If a vote starts off open but two voting members then request that it be
secret, then the voting restarts with secret ballots.
The IAB chair (or executive director on the instructions of the chair) will
typically follow this process to conduct a vote:
Announce the topic or question on which to vote, along with the
schedule for the vote, to start a period of discussion and consideration
by the IAB.
Ensure that all IAB members have an opportunity to discuss the topic or
question in a scheduled meeting of the IAB.
Formally start the vote, following the discussion(s).
Conclude the vote once votes from all IAB members have been collected,
or once 7 days have elapsed and there are sufficient votes received
to meet the requirements in RFC 2850.
Detailed guidelines for each of these steps are provided below.
Announcements of votes are sent over email, but can also be provided over
other channels. These announcements will be sent by the IAB chair or the executive director.
Announcements should be as specific as possible about the question on which
the vote will be taken, and background material should be provided or already be
available to the IAB.
Announcements can optionally indicate that ballots will be secret.
Announcements should include the timeframe for the vote, including the
opportunities for discussion (see below) and when the vote is expected to start.
IAB members should have the opportunity to discuss topics before taking a vote.
This discussion can occur in both asynchronous (email, slack messages) and synchronous
(teleconferences, in-person meetings) forms.
Once a vote is announced, the period for asynchronous discussion starts immediately.
This discsssion generally takes place on a private email list amongst voting
members.
The discussion period also should include opportunities for each voting IAB member
to have synchronous discussions with other voting members. Depending on the exact
meeting schedule of the IAB, this requirement can be satisfied in different ways.
For example, an in-person meeting at an IETF meeting/retreat or an IAB teleconference where
all IAB members are expected to attend satisfies this requirement in a single
discussion. Alternatively, this can be satisfied by having multiple discussions that
occur at different times to accomodate IAB members in different timezones.
Note that lack of attendence by IAB members due to vacations or choosing not to
attend a meeting will not delay being able to hold the vote, as long as meeting
opportunities were provided.
Any meeting on which a vote is discussed needs to either be a regularly scheduled
meeting that is on the calendar well ahead of time, or be an extraordinary meeting
scheduled at least a week in advance.
Discussions in meetings need to follow a regular procedure for adding agenda items
to the meeting. Voting discussions should be added to a meeting agenda at least
48 hours prior to the meeting, or earlier depending on the current meeting practice
of the IAB.
Once the discussion opportunities (described above) have been provided, a vote
can formally start. This can occur during a teleconference or in-person meeting
directly after discussion, but unless all IAB members are present, will always
also be continued virtually.
Voting typically occurs on a private email list that includes all voting members,
but may be conducted using other virtual tools.
A vote will typically stay open until a position has been recorded for every
single voting member, even after a majority has been reached. This ensures
every voice can be heard. Note that it is reasonable for any voting member to
request a few days to further review available information before voting.
A vote can conclude in either of the following conditions:
If these conditions cannot be met within seven days, the IAB chair can
choose to either leave the vote open, or cancel the vote.
The IAB can use alternative voting processes. In order to do that, the IAB
chair must announce the alternative voting rules to the IAB. This
announcement should usually occur at least one week before the voting takes
place. Per RFC 2850, if more than two voting members of the IAB object to the alternative voting rules,
the vote reverts to the Normal Process.
Unanimous results should be strongly preferred in votes using an alternative
process. Particularly, if the vote is run on a shortened timeline (such as
having less than a week of advanced notice), unanimity from those who respond
should be required.
Note that any alternative process still needs to follow the rules in Section
3.5 of RFC 2850.
This list of items was agreed upon at the IAB meeting on 2025-11-02.