GAC 2020 Leadership Elections
The annual GAC leadership elections cycle will conclude at ICANN69 on 20 October 2020.
The annual election cycle began with the opening of an extensive nomination period during the ICANN68 Policy Forum and potentially concludes with a balloting period before and during the ICANN Annual General Meeting (AGM) at ICANN69 in October.
This year’s leadership elections are open for the position of GAC Chair who serves a two-year term, and five GAC Vice-Chairs who serve one-year terms.
Nomination Period
The nomination period started on 25 June 2020 and will be open until 23:59 UTC on 02 September 2020.
This web page provides detailed information about the nomination process and will be updated as nominations are received and acknowledged.
Pertinent information regarding the nomination process is set forth as follows:
- Self-nominations or third-party nominations for the Chair and Vice-Chair positions should be made by email to the GAC membership mailing list – gac@icann.org. A nominating email should be clearly titled as “GAC Chair Nomination” and/or "GAC Vice-Chairs Nomination". Candidates can only be nominated during the nomination period.
- Individuals nominated by a third party will be asked by ICANN GAC support staff to confirm their acceptance of the nomination and willingness to stand for election. Self-nominations will not require that confirmation.
- The ICANN GAC support staff shall keep track of the nominations in a shared document on the GAC web site (see below).
- The eligibility requirement stated in GAC Operating Principle 22, that GAC Chair and Vice Chair candidates be “accredited representatives” has, in practice, been taken to mean GAC Member Primary Representatives, Alternate Representatives and Advisors are eligible for nomination and election to serve.
- Two reminders about the nomination period will be sent to the GAC membership list – the first about half way through the period and a second reminder one week prior to the close of the nomination period.
- If the number of valid nominations for a particular leadership position are equal to or less than the number of open leadership positions, no balloting will be necessary and the nominated candidate(s) will be elected by acclamation.
- If there are more nominations than seats available for a particular leadership position, then balloting will be conducted to fill the position. Any balloting will take place by electronic means as provided for in GAC Operating Principles 34 and 35.
- In addition to keeping track of the nominations in a shared document on the GAC web site, within three days of the close of the nomination period, the ICANN GAC support staff will inform the membership of the need for an election by ballots or acclamation.
Elections
If necessary, a voting/balloting process to elect one GAC Chair and five Vice-Chairs will be held before and during the ICANN69 ICANN Meeting (October 2020).
Votes shall be taken by secret ballot and will be cast electronically between Friday 25 September 2020 and Tuesday 20 October 2020. Voting will officially close at 23:59 UTC on Tuesday 20 October 2020. It will be a matter for each voting Representative to decide if they wish to make his or her choice public (Principle 34). The GAC Support Staff will provide a secure, online voting facility utilizing the Tally voting platform.
There will be no physical voting available for this election. All votes will need to be cast electronically which allows for vote-casting at a date and time that suits the individual voters, between the opening and closing dates of the election.
After the election has closed, the GAC Support Staff will review and confirm the voting results and announce the result of the election under the supervision of the outgoing Vice-Chairs (Principle 34). The staff review process will include checking to ensure that all votes are cast by eligible GAC Representatives. Election results shall be determined by simple majority. For the election of Vice Chairs, the five (5) candidates who gather the most votes will be appointed as Vice Chairs.
Casting Your Vote
The Tally system is email based. GAC Support Staff will enter all identified voter emails into the Tally system. On the opening date of the election (25 September) the staff will instruct the system to generate emails to all eligible voters. Each voter will receive a private ballot link via email that will enable them to cast their ballot. Each ballot link will remains open throughout the voting period so that voters can change or update their ballots until the election period closes.
Tied Ballots
In the case of a tied election (two candidates receive the same number of votes) that prevents a selection to be determined, a second balloting period shall be held. The second ballot shall be restricted to the candidates who are subject to the tied vote for the remaining position.
Eligibility to Vote
Only GAC Representatives are eligible to vote (Principle 16). GAC Representatives, Alternate Representatives, and Advisors are listed on the GAC website at https://gac.icann.org/about/members.
The current Chair and Vice Chairs are also eligible to vote.
GAC Observers are NOT eligible to vote (Principle 16). GAC Observers are listed on the GAC website at https://gac.icann.org/about/members.
Any questions about the voting process should be directed to GAC Support Staff at gac-staff@icann.org.
Votes placed by any person whose name is not listed on the GAC website will be deemed invalid – although the electronic voting system should prevent this from happening as the system used for the electronic voting will be populated only with the email addresses of the Representatives for each GAC Member. The system then sends invites for election participation to only those emails.
Confirming Designated Voters
GAC Members have until Friday 18 September 2020 at 23:59 UTC to ensure the details listed on the website are correct for purposes of the election. Any revisions or corrections to the list should be sent in an email to gac-staff@icann.org.
Some Representatives may opt to defer to another delegation member to fulfill the voting role. This intention must be expressed by the Representative by the same deadline as above to gac-staff@icann.org.
The email address listed on the website will be used unless a notification of another email address for this purpose is received by the same deadline as above.
Although actual balloting is not guaranteed, each election cycle creates the opportunity for the staff to update GAC membership information, because staff uses the membership list information to manage the election balloting. Once again this year, if necessary, the leadership election will be conducted using an electronic voting tool.
| The electronic voting tool defines the electorate by email address. Thus, it is very important that you verify that your GAC Member information on the GAC website is correct. The first person listed in your member entry will be considered as the “voter” for your country or territory. Please notify gac-staff@icann.org if an individual other than the first person listed on the web site should be the one to cast the vote or if an email address than the one listed should be used for the balloting process. |
LIST OF GAC CHAIR NOMINEES:
Persons nominated for the Chair vacancy are identified below:
|
Person Nominated |
Nominator |
Date of Nomination |
|
Manal Ismail (Egypt) |
Christine Arida (Egypt) |
4 August 2020 |
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LIST OF GAC VICE-CHAIR NOMINEES:
Persons nominated for the Vice-Chair vacancy are identified below:
|
Person Nominated |
Nominator |
Date of Nomination |
| Jorge Cancio (Switzerland) | Wim Rullens (Netherlands) | 30 June 2020 |
| Par Brumark (Niue) | Self-nomination | 12 August 2020 |
| Guiguemde Jacques Rodrigue (Burkina Faso) | Souroumpo Kammiri Antoine (Niger) | 2 September 2020 |
| Pua Hunter (Cook Islands) | Annaliese Williams (Australia) | 2 September 2020 |