Voting has started on the amendment for the rating motion and goes through the start of voting on the main motions which is scheduled for day 5 (Thursday) @ 9 ET.
Concerning the specific points raised by Bob and Hugh:
I will do my best to comply with these deadlines though I normally am still at work at 6pm in Vancouver - so I find the time deadlines rather "Western Hostile". Bob and Hugh are not the only ones frustrated with the overly strict timeline of the motion creating the online meetings (though in fairness Bob was the original mover of the motion establishing them). In fact I voted against the original motion for the very good reason that by placing the regulations on the Online Meetings into section 1 it made them part of the Constitution and thus requiring a super-majority to amend.
And make no mistake about it - having them on the first week of each quarter DOES create administrative headaches that the Executive is powerless to change as the regulations do not give the Executive (including the President and Secretary) the leeway to do so.
I pointed all this out at the time and the Governors saw fit to pass it anyway - I thought then as now that the idea was right but that the overly strict regulations created a straightjacket that was bound to cause grief.
Had it been MY choice I would either have not specified a time or specified midnight ET (or even PT) as it better reflects the realities that we are all volunteers who do this in our spare time and that most of us are employed during the day across the time zones that make up this country.
I think a good solution would be to have a frank and open discussion on the Online Meeting regulations with a view to presenting something either at the AGM or the first online meeting of the new year.