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Special GAC Vice-Chair Election – January-March 2023
Election Introduction and Nomination Period
The GAC Support staff have been informed that Shi Young Chang will not be able to fulfill his remaining duties of GAC vice chair during his first term nor his duties for a second term starting in March of this year after ICANN 76.
As a consequence of this development, the GAC Chair-Vice Chair team (C-VC) has determined that an election process should be held prior to the end of the ICANN76 GAC Meeting to fill that now vacant vice chair position – to serve a full one-year term from March 2023 to March of 2024.
While the GAC Operating Principles provide that the GAC may organize new elections in a situation like this (see GAC Operating Principle #31 - https://gac.icann.org/operating-principles/operating-principles-june-2017 [gac.icann.org]), they do not dictate “how” such and election should be held. Thus, the C-VC has directed GAC Support staff to organize a special election that comprises the components of a typical GAC Election period – including a nomination period followed by a balloting period, if necessary.
Although the timeline before ICANN76 is now somewhat tight, there is still time for the committee to observe a short nomination period followed by the standard electronic balloting period prescribed by Operating Principle #36 (which provides that balloting start no sooner than 21-days before the start of the next public meeting and conclude after two full days of that meeting).
The list of nominations submitted to the GAC Support staff prior to the end of the Nominations Period at 23:59 UTC on 17 February 2023 are listed at the bottom of this web page.
Elections
A voting/balloting process to specially elect the vacant GAC Vice-Chair position will be held before and during the ICANN76 ICANN Meeting (March 2023).
Votes shall be taken by secret ballot and will be cast electronically between Tuesday 21 February 2023 and Tuesday 14 March 2023. Voting will officially close at 23:59 UTC on Tuesday 14 March 2023. and will be announced subsequently during the GAC ICANN76 meeting. 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 a simple vote count – the candidate receiving the most votes will be elected for the vacant vice chair seat and start their tenure immediately upon the conclusion of the ICANN76 meeting.
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 (21 February 2023) the GAC Support 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: 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 should ensure that the details listed on the GAC 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 as soon as possible.
Some Representatives may opt to defer to another delegation member to fulfill the voting role. This intention must be expressed by the Representative to the GAC Support staff at gac-staff@icann.org as soon as possible.
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 GAC Support staff.
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 |
| Ken-Ying Tseng, Chinese Taipei | Wen-Fong Tsen, Chinese Taipei | 16 February 2023 |
| Bhuvnesh Kumar, India | T.Santhosh, India | 17 February 2023 |
| Wang Lang, China | Li Xaoli, China | 17 February 2023 |
| Thiago Dal-Toe, Colombia | Nohora Mercado Caruso, Colombia | 17 February 2023 |
Election Results
After the close of the balloting period at 23:59 UTC on Tuesday 14 March 2023, a total of 100 votes had been received and recorded in the TALLY voting system. Pursuant to GAC Operating Principle #32, the election outcome is confirmed as “valid” as “more than 1/3 of the GAC Members participate[d] in the voting”. The vote distribution was as follows:
The resulting vote totals were:
- Candidate Ken-Ying Tseng (Chinese Taipei) – 17 votes
- Candidate Bhuvnesh Kumar (India) – 32 votes
- Candidate Wang Lang (China) – 40 votes
- Candidate Thiago Dal-Toe (Colombia) – 11 votes
As a result of the voting, Wang Lang is elected to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Shi-Young Chang (Korea). He will join the new GAC C-VC team at the end of the ICANN76 meeting.
Effective at the close of the ICANN76 meeting, the new GAC Leadership team will be:
Chair:
- Nicolas Caballero (Paraguay)
Vice Chairs:
- Ola Bergstrom (Sweden)(second term)
- Francis Cubahiro (Burundi)(second term)
- Zena Bou Harb (Lebanon)(first term)
- Nigel Hickson (UK)(first term)
- Wang Lang (China)(first term)
Thank you to all four candidates for stepping forward to express a willingness to serve the work of the Committee.