According to the press release issued by SIS tonight (the pdf document is created 18:05 CET) the SIS board has declared this weeks earlier OOXML vote as invalid due to that one of the participating companies has voted two times where the SIS rules clearly says that each company can only cast one vote each.
Microsoft had 3 persons to represent them at the SIS meeting and it looks like that Microsoft was the one to voted two times.
Due to this and since it's highly unlikely that SIS will be able to organise a new vote before the 2nd September, Sweden will then not participate in the international vote regarding OOXML.
An interesting question about this totally change from Yes to Abstain by SIS is why it took them couple of days to sort out why they had one yes vote too much. So even if the change from Yes to Abstain is welcome there is still something strange about how SIS has managed the entire voting process. Clearly this error should and could been noticed the same day that the vote took place and not couple of days after.
The official SIS (Swedish) press release can be found here and a raw translation of the main content:
PRESS RELEASE
From SIS, Swedish Standards Institute
August 30, 2007
Office Open XML - SIS invalidates the vote
The swedish working group at SIS, Swedish Standards Institute, Document description languages SIS/TK 321/AG 17, decided in a vote on August 27, 2007, to vote yes to making Office Open XML an ISO standard. Today, the board of SIS decided to invalidate the vote.
The reason for the board's decision is that the SIS has information indicating that one of the participants of the working group cast more than one vote. This is not compatible with SIS rules, which stipulate that each project sponsor has only one vote. Thus, the decision has been taken solely based on SIS rules. The decision does not reflect a position on the subject matter.
Furthermore, the board considers it impossible for practical and formal reasons for the Swedish working group to arrange a new vote before September 2, 2007, when the global vote will be finished. If a new Swedish vote cannot be arranged, Sweden will abstain from voting.
Background
The proposal that Sweden has had under
consideration is, briefly, about definig document formats for word
processing, presentations, and spreadsheets. Office Open XML has its
origins in the need to store electronic documents long term, and to be
able to migrate files between different applications. The ISO vote will
be finished on September 2, 2007.
SIS is an independent non-profit organization, where the members' needs and wishes decide the direction for the standardization work. The members come from companies, organizations, and authorities.
Other articles about this topic:
- Microsoft forced partners to vote Yes!
- Microsoft buys the Swedish vote on OOXML
- BetaNews - Evidence of Microsoft Influencing OOXML Votes in Nordic States
- Google's Position on OOXML as a Proposed ISO Standard
- OOXML in Norway: The haywire process