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GAC 2021 Vice Chair Elections
The annual GAC leadership election cycle will conclude during the ICANN72 meeting in October 2021. The annual election cycle begins with the opening of an extensive nomination period at the end of the ICANN71 Virtual Policy Forum and concludes with a balloting period before and during the ICANN Annual General Meeting (AGM) at ICANN72.
This year’s leadership elections are open for the positions of five GAC Vice-Chairs who serve one-year terms.
Nomination Period
The nomination period started on 17 June 2021 and closed at 23:59 UTC on 9 September 2021.
This web page provides detailed information about the nomination and balloting processes and will be updated as events warrant.
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 Vice-Chair 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 will keep track of the nominations 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 that 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 nomination period and a second reminder one week prior to the close of the nomination period.
- If the number of valid nominations 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 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
A voting/balloting process to elect five Vice-Chairs will be held before and during the ICANN72 ICANN Meeting (October 2021).
Votes shall be taken by secret ballot and will be cast electronically between Monday 4 October 2021 and Tuesday 26 October 2021. Voting will officially close at 23:59 UTC on Tuesday 26 October 2021, and will be announced on Thursday 28 October 2021. 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 GAC Chair (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 (4 October 2021) the staff will instruct the Tally 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 remain 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:
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 1 October 2021 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 individual representative email address listed on the GAC website will be used unless a notification of another email address for this purpose is received by the same deadline as above.
| 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 VICE-CHAIR NOMINEES.
Persons nominated for the Vice-Chair vacancy are identified below:
| Person Nominated | Nominator | Date of Nomination |
| Par Brumark (Niue) | Self-nomination | 10 August 2021 |
| Francis Olivier Cubahiro (Burundi) | Rodrigue Guiguemde (Burkina Faso) | 5 September 2021 |
| Shi Young Chang (Republic of Korea) | Self-nomination | 8 September 2021 |
| Jaideep Kumar Mishra (India) | Self-nomination | 8 September 2021 |
| Ola Bergström (Sweden) | Self-nomination | 9 September 2021 |
| Muhammed Fatih Kafadar (Turkey) | Self-nomination | 9 September 2021 |
Election Results
The GAC Vice Chair election voting period concluded on 26 October 2021.
The requirements of GAC Operating Principle 32 and 35 (see GAC Operating Principles) were satisfied, as a total of 77 ballots (“more than 1/3 of the GAC Members) were submitted.
There were no ties that would prohibit identifying the candidates with the five highest vote counts, thus further in-person paper balloting was not needed.
The resulting vote totals were:
44 - Pär Brumark
50 - Francis Olivier Cubahiro
49 - Shi Young Chang
54 - Jaideep Kumar Mishra
66 - Ola Bergström
32 - Muhammad Fatih Kafadar
Based on the votes cast, the elected 2021 GAC Vice Chairs will be:
Pâr Brumark (Niue) (second consecutive term)
Francis Cubahiro Olivier (Burundi) (first term)
Shi Young Chang (Republic of Korea) (first term)
Jaideep Kumar Mishra (India) (first term)
Ola Bergström (Sweden) (first term)
The official one-year vice chair terms for the new vice chairs will formally start after ICANN73 and go until the end of ICANN76.
New vice chairs will be invited to attend upcoming leadership calls to assist in their onboarding and transition to their new roles.
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22 Oct 2021
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22 Oct 2021 | Publication | 1634908620000 |
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21 Oct 2021
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21 Oct 2021 | Publication | 1634817960000 |
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18 Oct 2021
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18 Oct 2021 | Publication | 1634550780000 |
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18 Oct 2021
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18 Oct 2021 | Publication | 1634550600000 |