APNIC NRO NC election procedures

General Principles

The NRO Number Council comprises 15 people, three from each of the five RIR regions.

The regional address policy community for the Asia Pacific region seats three individuals on the Number Council of the Number Resource Organization (NRO NC). In the APNIC region, one position is selected by the APNIC EC, while the other two individuals are elected by the community. This webpage describes the procedures to be followed for the conduct of the community elections.

Nomination of candidates

Nominations open at least 90 days before APNIC conferences and close 30 days before APNIC conferences. APNIC sends notices when nominations open and close to the Asia Pacific Internet community, including the APNIC-announce mailing list.

Any individual may be nominated with the exception of staff members of any RIR. Self-nominations are permitted.

Any individual may lodge a nomination.

When a nomination is received, the APNIC Secretariat will contact the nominee to confirm their willingness to serve on the NRO NC. If a nominee is not contactable via email or does not respond, then their nomination will not be confirmed and they will not be eligible for election.

The nominee is invited to attend the election held during the APNIC conference. The travel cost for the nominee to attend the conference is not covered by APNIC. It is not necessary for nominees to attend the conference in order to stand for the election. However, those present have an opportunity to make a statement supporting their candidacy.

Nominees are listed on the conference website after APNIC confirms the nominee is able and willing to serve on the NRO NC. Nominees have the opportunity to submit a written statement in support of their nomination. This is published on the relevant conference website. In addition, others may express support for a nominee by completing and submitting another nomination.

At the end of the nomination period, if the number of confirmed nominees is equal to or less than the number of seats to be filled at the NRO NC election, then no election will be held, and the candidates will be declared elected at the next APNIC conference.

Voting

Member voting

APNIC Members are eligible to vote in the NRO NC elections. Using MyAPNIC, each Member organization is entitled to cast one vote during the times noted in the NRO NC election timetable.

Online voting entitlements are only available to those individuals who are:

  • Corporate Contacts, or
  • Authorized contacts with voting rights given by the Corporate Contact

Registered conference attendee voting

Individuals who are registered for the current APNIC conference they are attending and have also attended at least one of the previous eight conferences are entitled to vote in the NRO NC elections. Verification of an individual’s entitlement to vote against official records will be used where necessary.

The voting takes place during the Policy SIG of the APNIC conferences. The details of the voting process will be published on the relevant APNIC conference website.

NRO NC election timetable

Each year the APNIC Secretariat publishes a timetable for the election no less than nine weeks prior to the NRO NC election. The published timetable is authoritative for the NRO NC election held in that year.

Election Chair

The APNIC EC appoints the Election Chair. The Chair’s responsibilities are to:

  • Oversee the election process
  • Appoint the Election Scrutineers
  • Declare the election results
  • Resolve disputes

Election Officers

The APNIC EC appoints the Election Officers from the APNIC Secretariat staff. Their responsibilities are to:

  • Administer the call for nominations
  • Manage the online and on-site voting processes
  • Retrieve the online voting reports
  • Report the results to the Election Chair
  • Answer queries from Members and voters

Election Scrutineers

The Election Chair appoints the Election Scrutineers from the staff of other RIRs, ICANN, and ISOC who are present at this meeting. Election Scrutineers do not vote, and must be independent from any APNIC Member or candidate. Their responsibilities are to:

  • Observe the downloading the election results by the Election Officers
  • Notify the Election Chair in case any anomaly or issue is identified

Dispute resolution

Notice of dispute

Any complaint regarding the conduct of the election must be lodged in writing with the Election Chair at the conference. Such notices must be lodged no later than one hour before the scheduled time of the declaration of the election, as contained in the agenda of the conference.

Members may lodge notices of a dispute through their authorized voting representatives. Individuals who are entitled to vote may lodge a notice of dispute. Candidates may lodge a notice of dispute directly with the Election Chair. No other party is entitled to lodge a notice of dispute.

Resolving disputes

The Election Chair will resolve the dispute at his or her discretion. The Election Chair will provide notice of all lodged disputes and the Election Chair’s decision at the declaration of the election.

Declaration of the election result

The Election Chair will announce the result of the election. This declaration will include:

  • The name and total vote count received by each candidate in the election
  • The number of valid and invalid ballots
  • Notice of any disputes and resolutions
  • Disclosure of any communication from the Election Scrutineers regarding the counting of the ballot