---
title: "Core Bylaws"
sidenav: docs
---

= Core Bylaws

== Current bylaws

These bylaws were approved by a vote of active committers on August 28, 2000.

=== Text

* Active committers have made a commit to the tree in the last 12 months.
* Core consists of 9 elected active committers.
* Core elections are held every 2 years, first time September 2000.
* Core members and committers may be ejected by a 2/3 vote of core.
* If the size of core falls below 7, an early election is held.
* A petition of 1/3 of active committers can trigger an early election.
* All elections will be run as follows:
** Core appoints and announces someone to run the election.
** 1 week to tally active committers wishing to run for core.
** 4 weeks for the actual vote.
** 1 week to tally and post the results.
** Each active committer may vote once in support of up to nine nominees.
** New core team becomes effective 1 week after the results are posted.
** Voting ties decided by unambiguously elected new core members.
* These rules can be changed by a 2/3 majority of committers if at least 50% of active committers cast their vote.

=== Core Interpretations of the Bylaws

Core will issue interpretations of the bylaws from time to time as necessary to clarify areas that might be ambiguous in the bylaws as enacted to ensure the smooth operation of the project.

* *20020503* The next election is always scheduled for two years after the previous election.
This means that early elections reset the date of the succeeding election such that it will occur two years following the early election.


== New bylaws

These bylaws were approved by a vote of active committers on May 27, 2026.
They have not yet entered into force.

=== Text

==== Core Team Membership

The FreeBSD Core Team consists of up to seven Voting Members and two Alternate Members.
Alternate Members participate in meetings and discussions but do not vote.

A Core Team Member's tenure lasts until a) the end of their elected term, b) their resignation, or c) their removal by a two-thirds majority vote of Voting Members, whichever comes first.

Vacancies among Voting Members are filled by promoting Alternate Members.
Vacancies among Alternate Members are not filled.

==== Eligibility

An Incumbent Core Team Member is someone who is currently a Voting or Alternate Member of the Core Team.

An Active Contributor is someone who has an active src, ports, or doc commit bit and has committed to the main branch of the src, ports or doc repositories in the last twelve months, or who is an Incumbent Core Team Member.

Any Active Contributor, and only Active Contributors, may vote in a Core Team Election.

Any Active Contributor, and only Active Contributors, may run in a Core Team Election, except that an Incumbent Core Team Member currently in their third or fourth consecutive year may not run for reelection.

For the purposes of Core Team Elections, the determination of who is or is not an Active Contributor is made relative to the start of the registration period.

==== Core Team Elections

Core Team Elections are held annually.
Before each election, the Core Team designates an Election Officer, who is charged with organizing the election.
The Election Officer may not be an Incumbent Core Team Member or a candidate in the election.
If the Election Officer decides to run in the election, the Core Team must designate a replacement.

The Election Officer sets the election schedule at their discretion, provided the following constraints are met:

* In the below, “week” is intended to mean a period of precisely seven twenty-four-hour days, and the election phases are intended to run consecutively with no gap or overlap, for a total of eight weeks terminating no later than the second Wednesday of May.

* The election process begins with a two-week period during which candidates may register to run in the election.

* During the registration period, each Incumbent Core Team Member who was elected to a two-year term in the previous election must confirm their intention to complete their term.
  Those that do so are designated as Carry-Overs.
  The number of candidates to be elected will be nine minus the number of Carry-Overs.

* Voting begins immediately after the end of the registration period and last four weeks.

* After voting ends, the Election Officer has one week to confer with the candidates to resolve ties and finalize the election result as follows:

** Once the votes have been counted, candidates are ranked by descending order of votes.

** The first three candidates are elected to two-year terms as Voting Members.

** Subsequent candidates are elected to one-year terms as Voting Members until the total, including Carry-Overs, reaches seven.

** Finally, the next two candidates are elected to one-year terms as Alternate Members.

** In case of a tie which would affect the composition of the Core Team, Carry-Overs and candidates ranked above the tied rank confer to resolve the tie.
    For instance, if two candidates are tied for third, the Carry-Overs and the first two candidates decide which of the tied candidates gets a two-year term.

* At the end of that week, the final result is announced to the community.

* The election result is effective one week after it is announced.

==== Bylaws Changes

Changes to these bylaws may be proposed at any time by the Core Team or by a petition signed by 5% of Active Contributors.
In such a case, a poll of Active Contributors is held concurrently with the voting phase of the next Core Team Election.

Multiple amendments may be proposed in the same poll; they must each be the subject of a separate yes / no question, unless competing or contradictory proposals are submitted, in which case a single question is posed to select one or none of the competing proposals.

Any amendment that receives two thirds or more of the votes cast in the poll is deemed to have passed and takes effect simultaneously with the investiture of the newly elected Core Team.

For the purposes of a bylaws petition, the determination of who is or is not an Active Contributor is relative to the date the signed petition is submitted to the Core Team.

==== Enactment

These revised bylaws will take effect in 2028, unless the Core Team elected in 2026 decides by two-thirds majority vote of the entire Core Team that they will take effect immediately, and announces this decision to the community.
In the latter case, the composition of the Core Team elected in 2026 is retroactively divided into three two-year Voting Members, four one-year Voting Members, and two one-year Alternate Members according to the number of votes received in the 2026 Core Team Election.

== Additional Information

The last core election was held in April-May of 2026.
The next core election will be held in April-May of 2028, unless the incoming Core Team decides to immediately enact the new bylaws, in which case the next election will be held in April-May of 2027.

link:../developer[Resources for FreeBSD Committers]
