UN Adopts New Voting Procedure during COVID-19 Pandemic

Instead of meeting in the horseshoe-shaped assembly chamber at UN headquarters overlooking New York’s East River, ambassadors from the 193 UN member nations will cast secret ballots at a designated venue during spaced-out time slots, AP reported.

And they will be voting not only for five non-permanent members of the Security Council to serve two-year terms but for 18 new members of the 54-nation Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms.

According to the new procedure, the president of the General Assembly will send a letter to all member states at least 10 working days before the first round of secret balloting for the two elections to inform them of the date, venue where ballots should be cast, and other relevant information.

The Security Council election had been scheduled for June 17, but it’s unclear whether that will remain the date.

The Security Council has five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Five countries are elected every year.

The council is the UN’s most powerful body and winning a seat is a pinnacle of achievement for many countries because it gives them a strong voice on issues of international peace and security.

This year seven countries are vying for five seats, and there are two hotly contested races.

In the group of Western nation, Canada, Ireland and Norway are battling for two seats, and in Africa, Kenya and Djibouti are competing for one seat. India is running unopposed for the Asia-Pacific seat and Mexico is running unopposed for the seat for Latin America and the Caribbean.