Elections to the Security Council

  • Starting tomorrow (Thursday, 15 November), the 15 current members of the Security Council and the five members elected for the 2013-2014 term will participate in a two-day workshop organised by the Government of Finland and the Security Council Affairs Division...

  • 17 October 2012

    Security Council Elections 2012

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow morning (18 October), the General-Assembly is scheduled to hold elections, by secret ballot, for five non-permanent Council seats for the 2013-2014 term.These include one seat for the African Group, currently held by South Africa; one seat for the Asia-Pacific...

  • October 2012

    Security Council Elections 2012

    Monthly Forecast

    On 18 October, the General Assembly is expected to hold elections for five members of the Security Council. The new members will take up their seats on 1 January 2013 and will serve on the Council through 31 December 2014.

  • 25 September 2012

    Security Council Elections 2012

    Research Report

    The General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections on 18 October to select five new members to the Security Council.  Security Council Elections 2012 provides an overview of the candidates running for a 2013-2014 seat on the Council, as well as helpful information on voting procedures and modern regional groupings and historical background on past elections.   An annex provides a comprehensive review of all previous elections to the Security Council from 1946-2011.  

  • October 2011

    Security Council Elections 2011

    Monthly Forecast

    On 21 October, the General Assembly is expected to hold elections for five members of the Security Council. The new members will take up their seats on 1 January 2012 and will serve on the Security Council until 31 December 2013.

  • Elections for the Security Council are set to be held by the 66th session of the UN General Assembly on 13 October. Five of the ten non-permanent seats on the Council will be filled for the 2012-2013 term. The five seats available for election in 2011 will be distributed regionally as follows: two seats for the Africa Group (currently held by Gabon and Nigeria); one seat for Asia (currently held by Lebanon); one seat for Eastern Europe (currently held by Bosnia and Herzegovina); and one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States or GRULAC (currently held by Brazil).

  • October 2010

    Security Council Elections

    Monthly Forecast

    The General Assembly is expected to hold elections on 12 October for five members of the Security Council. The five new members will take up their seats on 1 January and will serve on the Security Council for the period 2011-2012.

  • Elections for the Security Council will be held during the 65th session of the UN General Assembly. The General Assembly is expected to hold elections on 12 October for five of the ten seats on the Security Council for non-permanent members serving two-year terms. The five seats available for election in 2010 will be distributed regionally as follows: one seat for Africa (currently held by Uganda); one seat for Asia (currently held by Japan); one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC), (currently held by Mexico); and two seats for the Western European and Others Group (WEOG), (currently held by Austria and Turkey).  The five new members elected this year will take up their seats on 1 January and will serve two-year terms on the Security Council for the period 2011-2012.

  • October 2009

    Security Council Elections 2009

    Monthly Forecast

    n October (possibly the fifteenth) the General Assembly will hold elections for five Security Council seats which have two-year terms. The new members will take their seats on 1 January and will serve in 2010 and 2011.

  • The General Assembly is expected to hold elections on 15 October for five of the ten seats on the Security Council which are available for elected members serving two-year terms. The five seats available for election in 2009 will be distributed regionally as follows:two seats for Africa (currently held by Burkina Faso and Libya); one seat for Asia (currently held by Viet Nam); one seat for Eastern Europe (currently held by Croatia); and one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC), (currently held by Costa Rica). The five new members elected this year will take up their seats on 1 January and will serve on the Security Council for the period 2010-2011. At this time it appears that all five candidates will enjoy “clean slate” elections (i.e. they do not have any competing candidates). This is the first time since 2004 that there has been an election to the Security Council with absolutely no contested seats.

  • October 2008

    Security Council Elections

    Monthly Forecast

    On 17 October the General Assembly will hold elections for five non-permanent seats on the Security Council. The new members will take their seats on 1 January and will serve for the period 2009-2010.

  • The General Assembly is expected to hold elections on 17 October for five seats of the ten seats on the Council which are available for elected members serving two-year terms. The five seats available for election in 2008 will be distributed regionally as follows: one seat for Africa (currently held by South Africa); one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC), (currently held by Panama); one seat for Asia (currently held by Indonesia); and two seats for Western European and Others Group (WEOG), (currently held by Belgium and Italy). The five new members elected this year will take up their seats on 1 January and will serve on the Security Council for the period 2009- 2010.

  • October 2007

    Security Council Elections 2007

    Monthly Forecast

    On 16 October 2007 the General Assembly will hold elections for five non-permanent seats on the Security Council.

  • The General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections on 16 October 2007 for five seats on the Security Council. Ten of the 15 seats on the Council are held by elected members serving two-year terms. The five seats up for election will be distributed as follows:two seats for Africa; one seat for Latin America; one seat for Asia; and one seat for Eastern Europe. The five new members elected this year will replace the Republic of Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia in January 2008. Currently it seems that only the Asian seat will be uncontested. Vietnam, the only Asian candidate, declared in 1997 that it would run this year. It campaigned over a ten-year period and won regional endorsement in 2006 virtually assuring it of election. In the Asian Group a candidate can be endorsed a year in advance if there is a "clean slate" (i.e. no other candidates). However, because these are elections to a "Principal Organ" of the United Nations formal balloting is required even when there is an endorsed candidate for a clean slate. (General Assembly decision 34/401, paragraph 16, which allows the Assembly to dispense with elections where there was a "clean slate" from a regional group, applies only to subsidiary organs and therefore does not apply to Security Council elections.)

  • May 2007

    Security Council Elections

    Monthly Forecast

    In October the General Assembly will hold elections for five seats on the Security Council to replace Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia. Please see our 2006 Special Research Report (14 August 2006) for a detailed description of Council election procedures and processes.