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

= Core Bylaws

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

* 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.

== Additional Information

The last core election was held in May-June of 2024. The next core election is scheduled for May-June of 2026.

== 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.

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