Dear ccNSO members from the European region, To fill the vacancy on the ccNSO Council for the European region, the ccNSO will open a call for nominations on Wednesday, 26 March 2025, at 00:01 UTC. The nomination and secondment period will close on Tuesday, 15 April 2025, at 23:59 UTC. This new nomination process is initiated because the Councillor-elect from the European region, chosen during the 2025 ccNSO Council nomination process, resigned in February 2025. Note: As per the ccNSO Guideline, only the Representative from a ccNSO member from the European region will be able to nominate and second candidates to serve as a ccNSO Councillor for the European region. Further instructions are included below. The ICANN Bylaws, Article 10 – Section 10.4 (g)<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article10> state: "(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." TIMELINE | The nomination and secondment procedure starts Wednesday, 26 March 2025 (00:01 UTC) and closes Tuesday, 15 April 2025 (23:59 UTC). WHO CAN NOMINATE OR SECOND? | The ICANN Bylaws, Article 10 – Section 10.4 (h)<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article10> state: Representatives from ccNSO members from the European region. "(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 a different Territory, 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." The ccNSO Council election guideline, section 3.2<https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...>, states: "Only the Representative from a ccNSO member will be able to nominate and second candidates to serve as a ccNSO Councillor. New ccNSO members can participate in the nomination process if their ccNSO membership application has been approved by the ccNSO Council one day prior to the day the nomination process starts. A Representative from a ccNSO member may self-nominate, but is then not allowed to second their self-nomination. Self-nominations must be seconded by two Representatives from two other Territories in the Region." The Glossary of the Internal ccNSO Rules, states:<https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/internal-membersh...> "Representative - Each ccTLD manager may designate in writing a person, organization, or entity to represent the ccTLD manager in matters relating to the ccNSO ("Representative"). In the absence of such a designation, the person, organization, or entity listed as the administrative contact in the IANA database shall be deemed to be the designate of the ccTLD manager by whom the ccNSO member shall be represented." Contact joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org>, in case you have questions regarding who is listed as the Representative for your ccTLD. NEW ccNSO MEMBERS | Note that new ccNSO members can participate in the nomination process if the ccNSO membership application has been approved by the ccNSO Council one day prior to the nomination process start, i.e., latest on 25 March 2025. 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. Consult the archive for nominations and secondments here: https://lists.icann.org/hyperkitty/list/ccnso-nominations@icann.org/ = = = please send to ccnso-nominations@icann.org<mailto:ccnso-nominations@icann.org> TEMPLATE | NOMINATION TO THE ccNSO COUNCIL Your full name: Your ccTLD: Your geographic region: Full name of the person you nominate to the ccNSO council: = = = send to ccnso-nominations@icann.org<mailto:ccnso-nominations@icann.org> TEMPLATE | SECONDING A NOMINATION TO THE CCNSO COUNCIL Your full name Your ccTLD: Your geographic region: Full name of the nominee you would like to second: ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS TO BE ELECTED TO CCNSO COUNCIL | A Councillor can be any individual nominated, seconded, and elected as described in the ccNSO Council Election Guideline. 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. The ccNSO Council consists of 18 Councillors, representing 5 ICANN geographical regions. Each region has 3 Councillors, with 15 elected by ccNSO members within their respective regions and 3 appointed by the ICANN Nominating Committee. VALID CANDIDATES | 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. ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS | After closure of the nomination period, the Election Manager will ask the candidates that are nominated to accept 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: https://lists.icann.org/hyperkitty/list/ccnso-nominations@icann.org/ NEXT STEPS | The Election Manager will ask the candidate(s) to provide a written candidate statement. A Question and Answer session with the candidate(s) will be held on 29 April 2025 (time TBC). In preparation of the Q&A session, the written candidate statement(s) 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 candidate(s). 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. The first election round (if any), will start 21 May 2025 (00:01 UTC) and will close 11 June 2025 (23:59 UTC), as per the timeline adopted by the Council. LINKS * ICANN bylaws, Article 10<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en/#article10> * ccNSO Internal Membership Rules<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/about/internal-membership-rules-26oct22-en.pdf> * Archive for nominations and secondments<https://lists.icann.org/hyperkitty/list/ccnso-nominations@icann.org/> * Relevant ccNSO guideline<https://ccnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/field-attached/guideline-ccnso-c...> * Timeline<https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ccNSOCWS/pages/103123967/1...> * Announcements related to Council elections<https://ccnso.icann.org/en/about/elections/council.htm> Best regards, Joke Braeken joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org>