Ahh, sounds good, removed my last part then as it's irrelevant :)

I'll get it started, then.

Truthfully I'm not even sure there IS a problem. It's kind of strange to me that this CSM had the issue kickstarted, when it's probably one of the more diverse ones in history. I can't think of a single area of gameplay that isn't represented by at least one council member, save maybe Incursions. Hell, there was even one wormhole candidate whose name I can't recall for some reason who came in 2nd overall in voting, with a fairly comfortable lead over every voting bloc but one! Issler Dainze is also proof positive that even tiny candidates have a chance, and Darius III is proof that the barrier for entry to the council is so small, it's barely a raised curb. Without a few more CSM election's worth of data since CCP decided to actually listen to the CSM in the past few councils, it's really a stretch to say if there's a problem at all.

The only way I could see a problem is if CCP has some kind of survey data or somesuch that says new players aren't voting because of the voting system. I have my doubts about that as well, since they'd have just changed it on their own, and rightly so since their data on the subject would best allow them to tailor the changes to the specified problem. Crowdsourcing it gives me the impression that no such data exists (in that it wasn't ever collected, not that it says different).

And if there are changes, do we learn about them immediately after the summit ... or do we get to hear about the changes in April, once they've already been made and it is too late to discuss and/or object to them?

As has been said many times before, and in other threads by myself. Voter participation is the issue. CCP needs to take major steps to better communicate the CSM elections, as well as make it easier to research than "read persons thread".

Organized player groups can tip the election because they are organized. So the only way you are going to see the system work properly is to lower the bar substantially for the average EVE player to participate.

In-game popup with working hyperlinks would be a good start. Something that doesn't grab focus though. Perhaps code that autoaunches ingame browser and goes to the voting form.

Rewards for voting, something tiny but just enough incentive to get them to vote. Quafe like.