Dear All, This is to inform you about the list of candidates and next steps for the 2022 ccNSO Council elections. In accordance with the approved timeline, the nomination period for the ccNSO Council closed on Wednesday, 6 October 2021 (23:59 UTC). The nomination archives can be found here<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ccnso-nominations/>. The following candidates were nominated, seconded and have accepted their nomination for the ccNSO council election, as per the applicable rules: Africa: Biyi Oladipo Asia-Pacific: Anil Kumar Jain Jordan Carter Europe: Nick Wenban-Smith Latin America – Caribbean: Demi Getschko North America: Pablo Rodriguez A Question and Answer session with the candidates will be held at ICANN72, on Tuesday, 26 October 2021 (16:00-17:00 UTC). The ICANN72 ccNSO Members Meeting schedule is published here: https://community.icann.org/x/hAEuCg Next steps: Africa, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, North America As only one candidate was nominated and seconded within the nomination period for the African, European, Latin American-Caribbean and North American regions, no elections need to be held in those regions. Since at the close of nominations there are no more valid candidates in the aforementioned geographic regions than there are seats on the ccNSO Council available for those regions, the nominated candidates shall be selected to serve on the ccNSO Council. Next steps: Asia-Pacific region For the Asia-Pacific region, in accordance with the applicable rules, two (2) candidates were nominated, seconded and have accepted their nomination. Consequently, an election will be held – according to the timeline previously agreed upon by the ccNSO Council – among the ccNSO members from the Asia-Pacific region. Please find the candidate statements as submitted by Anil and Jordan enclosed. Election opening and closing As per the timeline<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/workinggroups/timeline-nomination-election-2022-1...> approved by the ccNSO Council: Election Start: Wednesday, 10 November 2021 (00:01 UTC) Election End: Wednesday, 24 November 2021 (23:59 UTC) Election procedure The vote will be by confidential email. Voting ballots will be sent by tally@icann.org<mailto:tally@icann.org> to the e-mail address of the primary contact of each ccNSO Member from the Asia-Pacific region, as listed in the ccNSO Members database. As per the relevant guideline, a majority of all ccNSO members in the Geographic Region entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum, and the selected candidate must receive the votes of a majority of those cast by ccNSO members within the Geographic Region. Contact Joke Braeken (joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org>) if you have questions or concerns regarding the e-mail address of the primary contact for your ccTLD. Since the election is for one seat, each ccNSO member will be entitled to vote for up to one candidate. Please note: * Voting ballots will be sent by the e-mail address tally@icann.org<mailto:tally@icann.org>, to the e-mail address of the primary contact of the ccNSO Members from the Asia-Pacific region, as listed in the ccNSO Members database. * If you are unable to locate the ballot, consider checking your spam folder. * Contact Joke Braeken (joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org>) if you have questions or concerns regarding the e-mail address of the primary contact for your ccTLD * For each ballot, a maximum of 1 candidate can be selected * There is a possibility to submit your ballot without selecting any of the candidates * Each primary contact will receive 1 ballot only. You can vote an unlimited number of times, but only the last vote submitted will be counted. Question and Answer Session with the ccNSO Council candidates at ICANN72 All candidates are kindly invited to participate in the Q&A session, which will provide the ccNSO members and broader ccTLD community an opportunity to interact with the Council candidates. The written candidate statements (if any) and possible other material shared by the candidates will be posted on the ccNSO website<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/about/elections/council.htm> and shared with the ccNSO Members, ahead of the Q&A session. The question and answer session will be held at ICANN72, on Tuesday, 26 October 2021 (16:00-17:00 UTC). The ICANN72 ccNSO Members Meeting schedule is published here: https://community.icann.org/x/hAEuCg You must be registered and signed in<https://events.icann.org/icann72/registration> to view the ICANN72 schedule and participation details. Access and ability to log into the schedule platform<https://72.schedule.icann.org/> can take up to 30 minutes after completing the registration process. Conclusion The Election Manager will prepare the Election Report for the 2022 ccNSO council elections for consideration by the ccNSO Council, latest by the end of December 2021, after closure of the second round or run-off elections, if any. The Council Election process 2022 will formally close 7 days after adoption and publication of the Election Report. The terms of the appointed Council members will start at the end of ICANN73, in March 2022. Background The 3-year term for five members of the ccNSO Council will end in March 2022, at the conclusion of the ICANN73 Community Forum: Africa: Biyi Oladipo Asia Pacific: Jordan Carter Europe: Nick-Wenban Smith Latin America/Caribbean: Demi Getschko North America: Pablo Rodriguez The ccNSO opened a call for nominations to fill those seats: the nomination and secondment procedure started Wednesday, 15 September 2021 (00:01 UTC) and closed 3 weeks later Wednesday, 6 October 2021 (23:59 UTC). The ccNSO Council<https://ccnso.icann.org/about/council.htm> consists of 18 Councillors: 15 Councilors are elected by the ccNSO members within that ICANN Geographic Region. Individuals are elected in their personal capacity and serve the ccTLD community. There are 5 geographic regions, and 3 Councilors per region. Three additional Councillors are appointed by the ICANN Nominating Committee. Links * Archive for nominations and secondments<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ccnso-nominations/> * Call for nominations<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-13sep21-en.htm> * Relevant ccNSO guideline<https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...> * Timeline<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/workinggroups/timeline-nomination-election-2022-1...> * ccNSO Council Election Webinar: recording<https://community.icann.org/display/ccnsowkspc/ccNSO+Webinars> Best regards, Joke Braeken