Prior to each International Mycological Congress, there is a Guiding vote on formal proposals to amend the Code that are to be considered at the Fungal Nomenclature Session (FNS) of the particular IMC. The Guiding vote is organised by the Fungal Nomenclature Bureau (FNB). The Guiding vote is non-binding, but proposals that receive 75% or more no votes are automatically rejected by the FNS unless re-introduced by a proposer and five seconders.
Eligibility to participate in the Guiding vote is mainly via membership of organisations as set out in Provision 8 of Division III of the Code. The organisations are the International Mycological Association (IMA) along with the IMA Sustaining Member Organizations and the IMA Member Organizations, but not the Regional Member Mycological Organizations. For the purposes of the Guiding vote, members of the International Mycological Association (IMA) are those that are registered to attend the International Mycological Congress at which the proposals will be considered by the FNS (i.e. the next IMC, which for the 2024 Guiding vote is IMC12).
The Fungal Nomenclature Bureau may approve additional organisations. It is the individual members of the eligible organizations (rather than the organizations themselves) that participate in the Guiding vote.
In addition, authors of proposals and members of the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi are entitled to vote in the Guiding Vote.
Irrespective of how many categories a person falls under, each person has one vote in the Guiding vote.
The Guiding vote is on-line, and a link to the ballot will be provided to all eligible organisations, for distribution to their members.
For IMC12, the Guiding vote is expected to open in June 2024.
Those wishing to participate in the Guiding vote are advised to read the original proposals and the Synopsis of proposals that will be prepared by the Secretaries of the FNB.
Please note that only members of eligible organisation are entitled to vote, and the ballot requires that you provide your name, and the eligibility category that you fall under. Results of the Guiding vote will be published as aggregated totals, without any information on individuals.
Report of the Guiding Vote for FNS IMC11
Anyone wishing to clarify their eligibility or having difficulties with the Guiding vote on-line ballot should contact the Secretary, Fungal Nomenclature Bureau, Dr Tom May. tom [dot] may [at] rbg [dot] vic [dot] gov [dot] au