VII VOTING  

Rule 27 Voting rights

Each State Party shall have one vote in the Assembly.

Rule 28 Consensus

Every effort shall be made to adopt decisions in the Assembly by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, decisions shall be adopted by vote.

Rule 29 Conduct during voting

After the Chairperson has announced the beginning of voting, no one shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting.

Rule 30 Simple majority

30.1 When the Assembly resorts to voting, decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the States Parties present and voting, except as otherwise provided for in the present Rules of Procedure.

30.2 The decision concerning the amount of the contributions, in the form of a uniform percentage applicable to all States Parties which have not made the declaration referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Convention, shall be determined by a simple majority vote of the States Parties present and voting which have not made the above-mentioned declaration.

Rule 31 Voting by show of hands and roll-all

31.1 Except as otherwise provided for in the present Rules of Procedure, voting shall be by show of hands.

31.2 When the result of a vote by show of hands is in doubt, the Chairperson may take a second vote by roll-call. Vote by roll-call shall also be taken if it is requested by not less than two States Parties. The request shall be made to the Chairperson before the voting takes place or immediately after the vote by show of hands. Vote by roll-call shall be taken for the decision mentioned in Rule 30.2.

31.3 When a vote is taken by roll-call, the vote of each State Party participating shall be inserted in the summary records.

Rule 32 Order of voting on proposals

32.1 If two or more proposals, other than amendments, relate to the same question, they shall, unless the Assembly decides otherwise, be voted on in the order in which they were submitted. The Assembly may, after each vote on a proposal, decide whether to vote on the next proposal.

32.2 A motion requiring that no decision be taken on a proposal shall have priority over that proposal.

Rule 33 Voting on amendments

33.1 When an amendment to a proposal is moved, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more amendments to a proposal are moved, the Chairperson shall put them to the vote starting with the amendment deemed by her or him to be furthest removed in substance from the original proposal, and so on. In case of doubt, the Chairperson shall consult the Assembly.

33.2 If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended proposal shall then be put to the vote.

33.3 A motion is considered an amendment to a proposal if it merely adds to, deletes from or revises part of that proposal.

Rule 34 Meaning of the expression 'States Parties present and voting' 

For the purpose of the present Rules of Procedure, the expression ‘States Parties present and voting’ means States Parties casting an affirmative or negative vote. States Parties who abstain from voting are considered as not voting.

VIII ELECTIONS AND TERM OF OFFICE OF THE COMMITTEE  

Rule 35 Geographical distribution

35.1 The election of Members of the Committee shall be conducted on the basis of the electoral groups of UNESCO, as determined by the UNESCO General Conference at its most recent session, it being understood that ‘Group V’ shall consist of two separate groups for the African and Arab States.

35.2 The seats in the Committee composed of 24 Members shall be distributed among electoral groups in proportion to the number of States Parties from each group, provided that, after such distribution, at least three seats have been attributed to each group.

Rule 36 Procedures for the presentation of candidatures to the Committee 

36.1 The Secretariat shall ask all States Parties, three months prior to the date of the election, whether they intend to stand for election to the Committee.

States Parties are requested to send their candidature to the Secretariat at least six weeks prior to the opening of the Assembly.

36.2 At least four weeks prior to the opening of the Assembly, the Secretariat shall send to all States Parties the provisional list of candidate States Parties, indicating the electoral group to which they belong and the number of seats to be filled in each electoral group. The Secretariat shall also provide information on the status of all compulsory and voluntary contributions to the Fund for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage made by each of the candidates. The list of candidatures will be revised as necessary.

36.3 No payments of compulsory and voluntary contributions to the Fund (for the purpose of presenting a candidature to the Committee) will be accepted later than a week before the opening of the Assembly.

36.4 The list of candidatures shall be finalized three working days prior to the opening of the General Assembly. No candidature will be accepted in the three working days preceding the opening of the Assembly.