Dear All, This is to inform you of the list of candidates and next steps for the 2024 ccNSO Council elections. The nomination period for the ccNSO Council closed on 3 October 2023, 23.59 UTC. The following candidates have been nominated, seconded and accepted their nomination for the ccNSO Council elections in accordance with the applicable rules and timeline: * Africa: Ali Hadji Mmadi (.km) * Asia/Australia/Pacific: Sami Mohamed Ali (.bh), Jiankang Yao (.cn) * Europe: Irina Danelia (.ru), Peter Koch (.de), Nicklas Pousette (.se) * Latin America/Caribbean: Jenifer López (.pa) * North America: Sean Copeland (.vi) The nomination archives can be found here<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ccnso-nominations/>. The statements shared by the candidates are enclosed. You are invited to participate in a Question-and-Answer session with candidates for the ccNSO Council and ICANN Board Seat 12. The Q&A will be held during ICANN78, on Thursday, 26 October 2023 | 09:00-10:00 (07:00-08:00 UTC). The Q&A session will provide an opportunity for ccNSO members to interact with all candidates prior to the elections following ICANN78. ccNSO Council Vice-Chair Biyi Oladipo (.ng) will moderate this session. Best regards, Joke Braeken joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org> ICANN78: Links to bookmark now ccNSO Schedule https://community.icann.org/x/doDxDg ccNSO Session Highlights https://community.icann.org/x/K4LxDg BACKGROUND CCNSO COUNCIL ELECTIONS | The ccNSO Council consists of 18 Councillors. There are 5 ICANN geographical regions and 3 Councillors per region: 15 Councillors are elected by the ccNSO members within that ICANN geographical region, through their Emissaries. A Councillor may be any individual nominated, seconded and elected as described in the ccNSO Council Election Guideline. Of the 18 Councillors, 3 are appointed by the ICANN Nominating Committee. If, at the close of the nomination period, there are no more valid nominees in the geographic region than there are available seats on the ccNSO Council for that region, the nominated candidate shall be elected to serve on the ccNSO Council. No elections will be held in the African, Latin America/Caribbean, and North American regions. Elections in the Asia/Australia/Pacific and European regions respectively will begin on Thursday 9 November 2023 (00:01 UTC) and end on Thursday 30 November 2023 (23:59 UTC), in accordance with the timetable adopted by the Council. The Council election process will formally close 7 days after the adoption and publication of the Election Report by the Council. The terms of the appointed Council members will begin at the end of ICANN79, in March 2024. All materials related to the ccNSO Council elections will be posted here: https://ccnso.icann.org/en/about/elections.htm BACKGROUND ICANN BOARD SEAT 12 NOMINATIONS | As per the ICANN Bylaws, the ccNSO nominates two directors to the ICANN Board. These seats on the Board are referred to in these Bylaws as Seat 11 and Seat 12. On Wednesday 9 August 2023 (23:59 UTC), the latest call for nominations for ICANN Board seat 12 closed. In accordance with the applicable rules, Katrina Sataki was nominated and seconded. Katrina is the only nominee. She has accepted her nomination and due diligence will be completed shortly. According to the rules and the timeline previously agreed by the ccNSO Council, an election will be held even if there is only one candidate. Voting will open on Tuesday 7 November 2023 (00:01 UTC) and close on Tuesday 28 November 2023 (23:59 UTC). All materials related to the nominations for Board seat 12 will be posted here: https://ccnso.icann.org/en/about/elections.htm