Special report on the ArbCom Elections steering RfC
Members of the Arbitration Committee are voted into office at the end of each year in elections that are entirely designed, implemented, and overseen by community volunteers. Since the December 2009 elections, each election has elected roughly half of the committee, usually for two year terms. The Wikimedia Foundation has a small number of requirements that candidates must meet because members of the committee have access to non-public data, but other than that, all of the structural and procedural decisions about the election are made by the community. With the 2011 Arbitration Committee Elections approaching, a Request for Comment was opened by MuZemike on September 18 to solicit the opinions of the community, and ended this week after running for 45 days.