After celebrating the achievement of quorum in elections for two vacancies in its board of directors, the Bitcoin Foundation has announced that a runoff election will be needed to determine the outcome.
No candidate succeeded in securing 50% of the vote, a requirement of foundation by-laws for determining a winner. The top four candidates by vote percentage will take part in the runoff. They are:
| Candidate | # of Votes | % Approval (out of 323 votes cast) |
|---|---|---|
| Olivier Janssens | 151 | 46.7% |
| Jim Harper | 133 | 41.2% |
| Bruce Fenton | 100 | 30.9% |
| Michael Perklin | 97 | 30% |
Cody Wilson, who wants to have the foundation disbanded altogether, ranked sixth with 21.3% of the vote.
Voters who were eligible but missed the "activation" step from the first round will now get another chance, as the eligibility rules for voting in the runoff remain the same. The extra step was implemented by election administrators to render non-responsive members as inactive, hoping to ensure that a majority of active members are considered to have voted. The move was criticized by some.
The turnout in the second round will be a good litmus test to see how many potential voters in the first would have voted had they gotten the chance, as well as gauge the level of continued interest in the organization.
323 out of an eligible 364 members (89%) voted during the first round. One can speculate that if the 1,159 "inactive" members had indeed voted, their large numbers may have tilted the scales to greater than 50% for one candidate.
Registration has opened and the polls will be open between Tuesday and Friday. The winners will be announced Saturday.
