Objections to the 2025 WMF Board election removals

Two candidates (Ravan and Lane) were removed from the ballot for the 2025 WMF Board election around October 1, a week before voting was set to begin. This was two months after the shortlisted finalists for the ballot had been selected by an affiliate vote and had begun campaigning in earnest. This removal was communicated publicly on October 3; community responses began appearing later that week.

Ravan is a long-term contributor to the Wikimedia movement, the founder of the Wikimedians of Iraq User Group, and the only woman in this year's Board selection. She also serves on several Wikimedia committees and brings many years of valuable experience to the movement.

• Ravan J Al-Taie (Ravan (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA))

Lane (Bluerasberry) is a long-term editor and community leader in the Movement, contributing extensively to public outreach and speaking as well as to The Signpost. He has the most experience with data science and AI among the candidates.

• Lane Rasberry (Bluerasberry (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA))

• August 21: process update and timeline change "Change to the order of the selection process"
  • FAQ about this update and a variety of specific details
• October 1: the process update is formalized in a Board policy: "Board of Trustees Candidate Review Process"
• October 3 election update (email / meta: "Board of Trustees Selection – Candidate Ballot") and followup ("more answers")

• Lane's post about removing him from the ballot (Meta-Wiki)
• Ravan's post about smear campaign against her (Meta-Wiki)

• Meta-Wiki
  • Discussion of the October Board update
  • Questions for the Election Committee
  • Wikimedia Deutschland’s statement on the new review process for BoT candidates and suggestions for next steps
• Wikimedia Mailing List
  • Petition for WMF Board reform
• Individual projects
  • Wikipedia Signpost#Lane not on the ballot (enwiki)
  • Village pump (WMF)#About the 2025 Board of Trustees Elections (enwiki)
  • Donnez votre avis : votez pour le conseil d'administration 2025 de la Fondation Wikimedia (frwiki)

The Arabic Wikimedia community expresses deep concern over the unexplained disqualification of candidates Ravan and Lane Rasberry from the 2025 Board of Trustees elections, particularly amid a media campaign targeting Ravan for her pro-Palestinian stance. In response, we, the undersigned Arabic Wikimedia members and affiliates, demand transparency from the Wikimedia Foundation and announce our boycott of this year's election.

To read the full statement and learn more, please visit the page above.

The Spanish-speaking community expresses its rejection of Ravan's separation, asserting the rights that have been violated. They call for a boycott of the vote and for the process to be restarted with guarantees of participation for all.

Note: These two statements were verbally the same, only differs by translation language (one Spanish, one Italian).

• 2025 WMF Board reform petition
• Learning from events and reactions surrounding the removal of Lane Rasberry from the 2025 Board Elections candidate shortlist