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Appendix 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference : Procedure for the conduct of elections by secret ballot


Adopted by the General Conference at its 6th session and modified at its 8th, 13th, 23rd, 29th, 30th and 40th sessions (*).



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Rule 1

Before the ballot begins, the President of the General Conference or the Chairperson of the commission or committee concerned (hereinafter referred to as Chairperson of the meeting) shall appoint two or more tellers, as in his or her judgement the ballot requires, from among the delegates present; he or she shall hand to them the list of delegations entitled to vote and the list of candidates. The duties of the tellers shall be to supervise the balloting procedure, count the ballot papers, decide on the validity of a ballot paper in any case of doubt, and certify the result of each ballot.

Rule 2

The Secretariat shall distribute ballot papers and envelopes to the delegations. Ballot papers may be in different colours for different purposes of election. The envelopes shall be without any distinguishing marks.

Rule 3

In the case of elections of members of bodies covered by Rule 33, paragraph 5, of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference:

(a) The candidatures shall be deemed admissible only if they reach the Secretariat of the General Conference at least seven days before the beginning of the ballot.

(b) The distribution of seats within each body shall be effected in conformity with resolution 22 adopted by the General Conference at its 28th session.

(c) The Nominations Committee shall establish and submit to a plenary meeting of the General Conference for decision a list on which the number of candidates shall correspond to the number of seats to be filled by each electoral group in each organ concerned. If the number of candidates submitted within an electoral group is greater than the number of seats to be filled by that group in a given organ, the Nominations Committee shall proceed to the election by secret ballot in order to establish the list of candidates corresponding to the number of seats to be filled. To this effect, the Secretariat shall distribute ballot papers, indicating the names of the candidates submitted within a given electoral group and the number of seats to be filled by that group.

Rule 4

The voters shall indicate the candidates for whom they wish to vote by inserting the sign x in the box appearing opposite the name of each candidate, in this way: ⌫. This sign will be considered as an affirmative vote in favour of the candidate so indicated. The ballot paper shall carry no other notation or sign than those required for the purpose of indicating the vote.

Rule 5

The tellers shall satisfy themselves that the ballot box is empty and, having locked it, shall hand the key to the Chairperson of the meeting.

Rule 6

Delegations shall be called in turn by the Secretary of the meeting, in alphabetical order of the names of Member States in French, beginning with the name of a Member State which shall have been drawn by lot.

Rule 7

At the conclusion of the first calling of the delegations, there shall be a further call for all delegations which have not voted.

Rule 8

On the first or second calling, delegations shall place their ballot papers, in the envelopes, in the ballot box.

Rule 9

To indicate the recording of each Member State’s vote, the Secretary of the meeting and one of the tellers shall sign or initial the list of delegations mentioned in Rule 1, in the margin opposite the name of the Member State concerned.

Rule 10

At the conclusion of the second calling, the Chairperson of the meeting shall declare the ballot closed and announce that the votes are to be counted.

Rule 11

When the Chairperson of the meeting has opened the ballot box, the tellers shall check the number of envelopes. If the number is greater or less than that of the voters, the Chairperson of the meeting shall be informed, and he or she shall then declare the vote invalid and announce that it is necessary to reopen the ballot.

Rule 12

The following shall be considered invalid:

(a) ballot papers on which a voter has cast an affirmative vote in favour of more candidates than there are seats to be filled;

(b) ballot papers on which the voters have revealed their identity, in particular by apposing their signature or mentioning the name of the member state they represent;

(c) ballot papers on which the name of any candidate appears more than once;

(d) ballot papers containing no indication as to the intention of the voter;

(e) subject to the provisions (a), (b), (c) and (d) above, a ballot paper shall be considered valid when the tellers are satisfied as to the intention of the voter.

Rule 13

The absence of any ballot paper in the envelope shall be considered as an abstention.

Rule 14

The counting of votes shall be under the supervision of the Chairperson of the meeting. The votes cast for each candidate shall be entered on the lists prepared for that purpose.

Rule 15

When the counting of votes is completed, the Chairperson of the meeting shall announce the results as specified in Rule 95 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference, it being understood that, when appropriate, the votes shall be counted and the results announced for each of the electoral groups separately.

Rule 16

After the declaration of the results of the ballot, the ballot papers shall be destroyed in the presence of the tellers.

Rule 17

The lists on which the tellers have recorded the results of the vote, after signature by the Chairperson of the meeting and by the tellers, shall constitute the official record of the ballot and shall be lodged in the archives of the Organization.





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(*) See 6 C/Resolutions, pp. 88, 96-7; 8 C/Resolutions, p. 17; 13 C/Resolutions, p. 114; 23 C/Resolutions, p. 111; 29 C/ Resolutions, pp. 119-26; 30 C/Resolutions, pp. 120-21. 62; 40 C/Resolution 81

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