Rule 39 Conduct of voting

39.1 Voting shall normally be by a show of hands.

39.2 If there is any doubt concerning the result of a vote by a show of hands, the Chairperson may take a second vote by roll-call.

39.3 A vote by roll-call shall also be taken if it is requested by two or more States Members of the Committee before the voting begins.

A A decision by secret ballot

39.4 A decision shall be voted on by secret ballot whenever two or more States Members shall so request. The vote by secret ballot shall prevail over any other proposed voting conduct.

39.5 Before the vote begins, the Chairperson shall appoint two tellers from among the delegates present to scrutinize the votes cast.

39.6 When the counting of the votes is completed and the tellers have reported to the Chairperson, he/she shall announce the results of the ballot bearing in mind that the voting will be recorded as follows:
From the total number of States Members of the Committee will be deducted:

(a) the number of States Members of the Committee absent, if any;

(b) the number of blank ballot papers, if any;

(c) the number of invalid ballot papers, if any.

The remaining number will constitute the number of votes recorded.

B Elections of the members of ad hoc consultative bodies and subsidiary bodies by secret ballot

39.7 Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot except that, where the number of candidates within geographical distribution is the same as or less than the number of seats to be filled, the candidates shall be declared elected without the need to hold a ballot.

39.8 Before the election begins, the Chairperson shall appoint two tellers from among the delegates present; he/she shall hand to them the list of candidates. He/She shall announce the number of seats to be filled.

39.9 The Secretariat shall prepare for each State Member of the Committee an envelope without any distinguishing mark and separate ballot papers, one for each of the electoral groups. The ballot paper for each vacant seat or electoral group shall bear the names of all the candidates in that electoral group.

39.10 Each State Member of the Committee shall cast its vote by encircling the names of those candidates for which it desires to vote.

39.11 The tellers shall collect from each State Member of the Committee the envelope containing the ballot papers and shall count the votes, under the supervision of the Chairperson.

39.12 The absence of any ballot paper in the envelope shall be considered an abstention.

39.13 Ballot papers on which more names have been circled than there are seats to be filled as well as those containing no indication as to the intention of the voter shall be considered invalid.

39.14 The counting of the votes for each electoral group shall take place separately. The tellers shall open the envelopes, one by one, and shall sort the ballot papers into electoral groups. The votes cast for the candidate shall be entered on lists prepared for that purpose.

39.15 The Chairperson shall declare elected those candidates who obtain the greatest number of votes up to the number of seats to be filled. If two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes, and, as a result, there are still more candidates than seats to be filled, there shall be a second secret ballot restricted to those candidates who obtained the same number of votes. If in the second ballot two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes, the Chairperson shall draw lots to decide the elected candidate.

39.16 When the counting of the votes is completed, the Chairperson shall announce the results of the ballot separately for each of the electoral groups.

VIII SECRETARIAT OF THE COMMITTEE  

Rule 40 The Secretariat

40.1 The Committee shall be assisted by the UNESCO Secretariat (Article 10.1 of the Convention).

40.2 The Director-General or his/her representative shall participate in the work of the Committee and of the ad hoc consultative and subsidiary bodies, without the right to vote. He/She may at any time make either oral or written statements on any question under consideration.

40.3 The Director-General shall appoint an official of the Secretariat of UNESCO to act as Secretary to the Committee, and other officials who shall together constitute the Secretariat of the Committee.

40.4 The Secretariat shall receive, translate and distribute all official documents of the Committee and shall arrange for the interpretation of the discussions, as provided in Rule 43.

40.5 The Secretariat shall perform all other duties necessary for the proper conduct of the work of the Committee.