Dear ccNSO Members, In March 2021, at the conclusion of ICANN70, the 3-year term of the following ccNSO Councillors ends: Africa: Abdalla Omari Asia Pacific: Young Eum Lee Europe: Katrina Sataki Latin America/Caribbean: Margarita Valdes North America: Byron Holland The ccNSO is opening a call for nominations to fill those seats as per the timeline<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/138970351/Item%209%20-%20ti...> approved by the ccNSO Council: the nomination- and secondment procedure starts Wednesday, 9 September 2020 (00:01 UTC) and closes 3 weeks later Wednesday, 30 September 2020 (23:59 UTC). Bylaw Article 10 – Section 10.4 (g)<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article10> states: "(g) The ccNSO Council members selected by the ccNSO members from each Geographic Region (see Section 10.3(a)(i)) shall be selected through nomination, and if necessary, election, by the ccNSO members within that Geographic Region. At least 90 days before the end of the regular term of any ccNSO-member-selected member of the ccNSO Council, or upon the occurrence of a vacancy in the seat of such a ccNSO Council member, the ccNSO Council shall establish a nomination and election schedule, which shall be sent to all ccNSO members within the Geographic Region and posted on the Website." How to nominate and second a candidate Timeline The nomination- and secondment procedure starts Wednesday, 9 September 2020 (00:01 UTC) and closes 3 weeks later Wednesday, 30 September 2020 (23:59 UTC) Who can nominate/second? Bylaw Article 10 – Section 10.4 (h)<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article10> states: "(h) Any ccNSO member may nominate an individual to serve as a ccNSO Council member representing the ccNSO member's Geographic Region. Nominations must be seconded by another ccNSO member from the same Geographic Region. By accepting their nomination, individuals nominated to the ccNSO Council agree to support the policies committed to by ccNSO members." As per the relevant ccNSO guideline<https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...>, new ccNSO members are able to participate in the nomination process if the ccNSO membership application has been approved by the ccNSO Council one day prior the nomination process starts, i.e. latest on 8 September 2020. Self-nominations As per the relevant ccNSO guideline <https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...> , ccNSO members may self-nominate themselves, but are not allowed to second their nomination. Self-nominations must be seconded by two ccNSO members from the region. Instructions Nominations and secondments should be sent by e-mail to the Election Manager at the following e-mail address: ccnso-nominations@icann.org<mailto:ccnso-nominations@icann.org>. Templates for nominating and seconding nominations are provided below. You are kindly invited to follow these instructions closely, and not to use alternative templates. Template for nominations: NOMINATION TO THE CCNSO COUNCIL 1. Your full name: 2. Your e-mail address: 3. Your ccTLD: 4. Your geographic region: 5. Full name of the person you nominate to the ccNSO council: 6. e-mail address of the person you nominate: Template for seconding nominations: SECONDING A NOMINATION TO THE CCNSO COUNCIL 1. Your full name: 2. Your e-mail address: 3. Your ccTLD: 4. Your geographic region: 5. Full name of the nominee you would like to second: Archive for nominations and secondments: http://forum.icann.org/lists/ccnso-nominations Eligibility requirements to be elected to the ccNSO Council A Councillor can be any individual nominated, seconded and elected as described in the ccNSO Council Election Guideline <https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...> . Individuals are elected in their personal capacity and serve the ccTLD community. Councillors do not represent the views and interests of their employers. Candidates need to be neither resident in the region, nor a citizen of a country, within the region in which they stand for election. A valid candidate is one that has been nominated and seconded according to the ccNSO council Election Guideline, and that has accepted the nomination. If there is more than one valid candidate in a Geographical Region, an election shall be conducted in that region. Voting will be by secret ballot: the ballot is identified only by a code and not by a name. During a recent Council Election Webinar, the ccNSO Chair and Councillors gave an overview of the election process and address the need to replace Councillors at reasonable and regular intervals. Moreover, they provided further information about the required skill sets for Councillors, the time commitment and working methods of the ccNSO Council. Consult the webinar recording<https://community.icann.org/display/ccnsowkspc/ccNSO+Webinars> here. Accepting nominations After closure of the nomination period, the Election Manager will ask the candidates that are nominated to accept their nomination. Self-nominations are understood to have accepted their nomination. The Election Manager will 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) is publicly available: http://forum.icann.org/lists/ccnso-nominations Next steps The Election Manager will ask the candidates to provide a written candidate statement. A Q&A session will be held at the upcoming ccNSO Members Meeting at ICANN69 in October 2020. In preparation of the Q&A session, the written candidate statements will be posted on the ccNSO website. The Q&A session gives the ccNSO members and broader ccTLD community an opportunity to interact with the candidates, and to ask questions. Consult here<https://community.icann.org/x/awG-C> the agenda of the ICANN69 ccNSO Members Meeting. If at the close of nominations there are no more valid candidates in a particular geographic region than there are seats on the ccNSO Council available for that geographic region, then the nominated candidates shall be selected to serve on the ccNSO Council. Otherwise, an election shall be held for that geographic region, to select the ccNSO Councillors from among the valid candidates. Links * Archive for nominations and secondments<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ccnso-nominations/> * Relevant ccNSO guideline<https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...> * Timeline<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/138970351/Item%209%20-%20ti...> * ccNSO Council Election Webinar: recording<https://community.icann.org/display/ccnsowkspc/ccNSO+Webinars> All announcements related to the ccNSO Council Election process will be posted here: https://ccnso.icann.org/en/about/elections/council.htm Best regards, The Election Process Manager Joke Braeken ccNSO Policy Advisor joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org> Follow @ccNSO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccNSO Follow the ccNSO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ccnso/ http://ccnso.icann.org