At the 26 June 2003 ICANN Board adopted the amendments to the bylaws under resolution 03.106.
Bylaws Article IX - section 3.1 states:
"The ccNSO Council shall consist of (a) three ccNSO Council members selected by the ccNSO members within each of ICANN's Geographic Regions in the manner described in Section 4(7) through (9) of this Article; (b) three ccNSO Council members selected by the ICANN Nominating Committee; (c) liaisons as described in paragraph 2 of this Section; and (iv) observers as described in paragraph 3 of this Section."
In adopting the amendments to the bylaws, the Board also called for the formation of the Launching Group.
Under Resolution 03.108, the Board requested the nine ccTLD members of the ccNSO Assistance Group to call for an additional six members to join them to form a launching group for the ccNSO ("Launching Group").
The Board further resolved that the Launching Group:
"shall also have the authority to establish a schedule and procedures for the selection of the initial ccNSO Council;" (Resolution 03.110)
In accordance with this authority vested in the Launching Group, the Launching Group, after consulting the community, has established the schedule and procedures for the selection of the initial ccNSO Council.
Summary
Only ccNSO members will be eligible to nominate or second candidates for the Council.
Only ccNSO members will be eligible to vote in the election of candidates
Nominations may be made by members from the region and seconded by a member from the region.
Voting will be by secret e-mail ballot, that is, the ballot is identified only by a code and not by a name.
The e-mail voting will be ratified by the Election Manager and the Election Supervisors.
An electoral list will be published.
TIMELINE
21 April: Nominations period starts.
5 May: Deadline for ccTLDs to apply to the ccNSO for membership so as to be able to nominate candidates.
12 May: Date by which the LG will have considered all membership applications filed by 5 May.
19 May: Deadline to nominate or second candidates.
9 June: Deadline for ccTLDs to apply to the ccNSO for membership so as to be able to vote.
15 June: Voting electorate formally closed and list published.
16 June: Campaign period closed. Ballots issued to members of voting electorate.
23 June: Deadline to vote - voting closes
30 June: Results announced. If any ties, run off elections announced (voting only).
18 July: First Council meeting, Kuala Lumpur.
In case of Ties:
1 July: Ballots issued to members of voting electorate in the regions where there was a tie.
7 July: Deadline to vote if there is a second round.
10 July: Results announced by Election Supervisors
Call for nominations
Nomination of candidates for the ccNSO council
Open: APRIL 21, 2004 at 00:00 UTC.
Close: MAY 19, 2004 at 00:00 UTC.
For other places see world clock.
Nominations should be sent by e-mail to the Election Manager at the following e-mail address:
ccnso-nominations@icann.org
Archives to be found at:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/ccnso-nominations.
The bylaws, Section 4 Membership. 8 state:
"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. "
Each member can nominate up to 3 candidates for election to the ccNSO council and each member can second up to 3 candidates.
Each geographic region elects 3 councillors and any ccNSO members in that region can nominate and second candidates.
In order to nominate or second a candidate, a member must be a member of the ccNSO by 12 May 2004.
In order for membership applications to be considered by the Launching Group, applications for membership must be filed on or before 5 May 2004.
Candidates need be neither resident in the region nor a citizen of a country within the region in which they stand for election.
Nomination procedures with timeline, template, e-mail for posting and URL of archives of nominations will be posted.
Record of nominations and acceptances can be found at:( url to be provided )
The Election Supervisors and the Election Manager shall confirm the list of the Nominees before the voting period starts.
Endorsements
Candidates may be endorsed but endorsements are not required for candidates to be eligible to stand for election.
Endorsements can be posted to:
ccnso-endorsements@icann.org
Archives to be found at:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/ccnso-endorsements
Voting Electorate
Current members of the ccNSO are eligible to vote. In order for a ccTLDs that is not currently a member of the ccNSO to be eligible to vote in the election a ccNSO membership application must have been received by no later than 00:00 UTC on 9 June 2004 and approved by the Launching Group before 15 June 2004 ( ie, the day before voting begins).
Applications filed close to either of the deadlines risk not being accepted, for reasons beyond the Launching Group's control.
Each geographic region elects 3 councillors and the electorate for each region are the ccNSO members in that region.
Procedure for voting by the ccNSO members to select the ccNSO Council
Voting will be conducted according to the Approval method.
Under the Approval method voters simply mark any number of candidates they favor, and the winners are the 3 with the most votes.
Pursuant to the bylaws, elections for the 3 positions are for staggered terms.
Voting Period and method
The ccNSO members will vote by e-mail
Voting will open: JUNE 16, 2004, at 00:00 UTC
Voting will close: JUNE 23, 2004, at 00:00 UTC (1 week)
For other places see world clock
The full record of the number of votes will be published at the end of selection process.
Results
The election results will be announced by the election supervisors, after checking the results presented by the Election Manager.