Dear Councillors,

With this email, on behalf of the Chair, I want to inform you about the procedure to nominate and elect the next ccNSO Council Chair and Vice-Chairs, taking into account that this will be again a virtual meeting. The procedures will presented tomorrow (18 March 2021) during the prep meeting.

To meet the requirement of appointing the Council leaders (see section 3.2 of the Guideline “ccNSO Council Roles and Responsibilities”: https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/roles-responsibilities-council-26feb18-en.pdf [ccnso.icann.org]):

the Council needs to make the required appointments during the timeframe of ICANN70 even if we do not meet face-to-face, and the term of the newly elected Chair, Vice-Chairs, and roles and responsibilities of the Councillors starts at the end of ICANN70, which is the first ICANN meeting of 2021.

The term of the ccNSO Council Chair (Katrina Sataki) and Vice-Chairs (Alejandra Reynoso and Pablo Rodriguez) will therefore end at the end of ICANN70. As you all know Katrina has to step down, as she will end her membership of Council.

To fill the positions of Council chair and the two Vice-Chairs (2 seats) the call for Nominations starts on Friday, 19 March 2021 (00:01 UTC) and closes on Tuesday, 23 March 2020 at 12.00 (noon) UTC. 

We propose to conduct the election itself on 25 March 2021. Depending on the number of candidates per vacancy there will be either a vote during the ccNSO Council call or a confidential email vote.

Below you will find all the details related to Nomination procedure and  the proposed Election Procedure

Nomination Procedure

How to nominate and second a candidate

Timeline of the nomination and seconding procedure:

START: Friday, 19 March 2021 at 00:01 UTC

END: Tuesday, 23 March 2021 at 12 (noon) UTC.

• Each ccNSO Council member can nominate one (1) person for a seat to be filled on the Council leadership team
• Each ccNSO Council member can second one (1) person for a seat to be filled on the Council leadership team
• Only individuals who are a member of the ccNSO Council on 19 March 2021 can nominate or second a candidate.
• Valid nominations must be seconded by another ccNSO Council member
• Nominations and secondings should be sent by e-mail to the following e-mail address: ccnso-council@icann.org
• Templates for nominating and seconding nominations are provided below

You are kindly invited to follow these instructions closely.

Template for nominations:

NOMINATION TO THE COUNCIL LEADERSHIP TEAM

My full name:

Name of the person I nominate:

I nominate the aforementioned person for the following role: (specify either “Chair” or “Vice-Chair”)

Template for seconding nominations:

SECONDING A NOMINATION TO THE COUNCIL LEADERSHIP TEAM

My full name:

Name of the nominated person I second:

I second the nomination of the aforementioned person for the following role: (specify either “Chair” or “Vice-Chair”)

Requirements for candidates

 As per section 3.2. of the relevant Guideline:

• each one of the three ccNSO Council leaders MUST be from different ICANN Geographic Regions
• a valid candidate is a Councillor who has been nominated and has been seconded
• after nomination and seconding, the candidate has accepted the nomination

Accepting nominations

 The candidates can accept their nominations during the nomination period up and until Wednesday, 4 March 2020, 16:00 UTC. Staff will reach out to the nominee(s) to check whether the nominee(s) accept their nomination(s). 

On Tuesday, 23 March 2021 (shortly after 16 UTC), staff shall provide a list with the name(s) of the candidate(s) who have accepted their nomination. A record of who has nominated and seconded the candidate(s) will be made publicly available:

The archive to consult here the nominations and secondments will be shared with you in next email

Elections Procedure Chair and Vice-Chairs

One candidate per vacancy

• If only one candidate stands as Chair, the Councillors will appoint the candidate by a public vote during the 25 March 2021 ccNSO Council Meeting.

• If there are as many valid candidates as there are open Vice-chair seats and each candidate is from a different ICANN Geographic Region, the Vice-chairs will be appointed by a public vote during the 25 March 2021 ccNSO Council meeting. 

Two or more candidates per Chair position

• If two or more candidates have accepted the nomination to become Chair, the Councillors will elect the Chair by a confidential email vote. Each and every Councillor, including the candidates, should sent an email to the appointed staff person, and include the name of the preferred candidate. Once the email is received the appointed staff person shall sent a reply including a ballot number, and acknowledgement of receipt. The candidate receiving most votes will be elected. In the event two or more candidates receive the most, but equal number of votes, there will be a run-off election between these candidates.

The appointed staff person will provide an overview of the votes cast and the order of preference.

• If there are more valid candidates than there are open Vice-chair seats, Vice-chairs are elected by confidential vote, using the same method as listed above for the Chair vote. If two candidates for one position are from the same Region, there will first be an election between these two candidates. The timeline for selecting the Vice-chairs will be adjusted according to the number of candidates and geographic origin, and shared with the Councillors on Tuesday 23 March. The results will be made public and the candidate receiving most votes is elected. In the event two or more candidates receive the most, but equal number of votes, there will be a run-off election between these candidates.

Staff will inform you which procedure wiil be followed as soon as the nomination procedure is closed (soon after 16 UTC on Tuesday, 23 March 2021).

Timeline

• Timeline of the public nomination and seconding procedure:

START: Friday, 19 March 2021 at 00:01 UTC.

END: Tuesday, 23 March 2021 12.00 (noon) UTC

• Acceptance nominations:

for the entire duration of the nomination period, until latest Tuesday, 23 March 2021, 16:00 UTC

• Confidential voting

START: Wednesday, 24 March 2021, 00:01 UTC

END: Thursday, 25 March 2020, 12.00 (noon) UTC

• Formal appointments

25 March 2021 during the ccNSO Council meeting

Background

• Guideline: ccNSO Council Roles and Responsibilities, as published on https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/roles-responsibilities-council-26feb18-en.pdf [ccnso.icann.org]