Voting system
The UN Human Rights Council voting system
Although there are 47 members of the Human Rights Council, they are not all elected at the same time. The terms of the first members, elected in May 2006, were staggered into one, two and three year terms by the drawing of lots. All future terms on the Human Rights Council will be for three years and be elected annually in New York.
The regional distribution of seats on the Human Rights Council is indicated in the following table.
UN
Human Rights Council election seats available
by region |
||||
| Region | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Total |
| African States | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 seats |
| Asian States | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 seats |
| Eastern European States | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 seats |
| Latin American and Caribbean States | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 seats |
| Western European and Other States (NZ) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 seats |
To be elected to the Human Rights Council, candidates require an absolute majority of UN Member States – there are 192 Member States and the current threshold for election to the HRC is 97 votes.
If the number of candidates that achieve the required majority exceeds the number of available seats, those Member States with the highest number of votes above the threshold are elected.
If there is a tie between countries that have attained the threshold for election, a ballot is held between the tied candidates.
Candidates can be nominated right up to the time of the elections, and even during the elections if there are three inconclusive ballots.
For more information refer to Rules 92 - 94 of the Rules of the General Assembly
