World Meteorological OrganizationWORLD METEOROLOGICAL CONGRESSEighteenth SessionGeneva, 3 to 14 June 2019

Cg-18/INF. 10Submitted by:

Secretary-General15.V.2019

ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

NOTE ON VOTING PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES FOR ELECTIONS, VOTING AND CONDUCT OF BUSINESS AT CONGRESS

INTRODUCTION

This Information Note presents a digest of WMO procedures and practices intended to assist delegates and presiding officers in the conduct of business during plenary or working committee meetings of Congress and in the organization of voting and elections at the session. Please refer to pages 12-15 for guidance on the electronic (e-voting) procedure.

1. Conduct of business (Regulations 95–109)

NOTE 1Any of the Regulations 95 to 109 may be suspended in whole or in part in special cases provided 24 hours’ notice of such a proposal has been given. The notice may be waived if no delegation or Member objects (Regulation 3).

1.1 Power of the presiding officer To open and close the meeting To direct the discussions (Regulations 95–96) To ensure the observance of the provisions of the relevant Articles of the Convention

and of the General Regulations To accord the right to speak To put questions to vote and announce decisions To exercise control over the proceedings and maintain order at the meeting (e.g., call

a speaker to order if remarks are irrelevant or impose time limits on speakers if necessary, except when a delegation or Member raises a point of order)

To propose adjournment or closure of the debate(s) To propose adjournment or suspension of the meeting(s) To rule on points of order

1.2 Point of order (Regulation 97) (has precedence over any other matter including procedural motions)

Intervention directed to the presiding officer requiring an immediate ruling; no debate; vote only in case of an appeal against the ruling (see also Appendix A)

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NOTE 2Requests for information or clarification, remarks or criticism relating to material arrangements (interpretation system, temperature of room, seating, etc.), documents, translation, etc. should not be confused with a point of order; the presiding officer should try to find a solution with the help of the Secretary-General.

1.3 Motions (Regulation 99) Shall be debated and voted upon in the order proposed except as otherwise provided

(see 1.4 to 1.7 below)

NOTE 3 In accordance with Regulation 107, the procedural motions have precedence in the following order: Suspension of the meeting; Adjournment of the meeting; Adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion; Closure of the debate on the item under discussion.

1.4 Suspension of the meeting (Regulation 104) Temporary adjournment of the business of the meeting* *

1.5 Adjournment of the meeting (Regulation 104) Termination of all business until another meeting is called*

1.6 Adjournment of the debate (Regulation 105) Termination on the debate of the item under discussion until a later time in the

meeting or until a later meeting*

1.7 Closure of the debate (Regulation 106) Termination of all debate on the item at the meeting; no more than two speakers,

both opposing the closure may speak, then immediately vote to be taken subject to a point of order being raised

1.8 Amendments to a motion or to an amendment (Regulation 100) When more than one amendment, discussion and vote first on the amendment

furthest removed in substance from the original text; the presiding officer determines the order

1.9 Withdrawal of a motion or an amendment (Regulation 101) Possible, by the mover, if no amendment to the motion or to the amendments is

already approved or being discussed

1.10 Division of a motion/amendment into parts (Regulation 103) If objection to division, permission to discuss only for two speakers for and two

against, then vote; if approved, then separate vote on each part and final vote on the whole

* * Motion will not be debated, but immediately voted upon subject to a point of order being raised.

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NOTE 4An amendment generally refers to proposed additions to, deletion from, or modifications to, a motion or proposal. However, an amendment to the Convention or the Regulations presented to Congress in accordance with Article 28 of the Convention or Regulation 2, respectively, is considered as an original proposal. Any proposed amendments to the original proposal should not result in a change in the basic intent of the original proposal; otherwise, it must be presented as a new proposal to which Article 28 of the Convention or Regulation 2 will apply, as appropriate.

1.11 Observers’ Right and role of observers (Regulation 109) May participate in a debate of common interest to WMO and the organization which

he/she represents; a motion or amendment shall be considered if endorsed by a delegation; no right to vote

1.12 Consideration of documents by plenary (Regulation 110) Shall be distributed at least 18 hours before consideration unless the provision of

Regulation 110 is suspended (Regulation 3); can be adopted or re-submitted in the form of a working paper or draft-/final document

2. Voting and elections in plenary (see also Appendix B and Appendix C)

2.1 Quorum (Article 12) The minimum number of Members present at a meeting necessary for a decision

taken by Congress to be valid The number of Members present should be at least equal to the simple majority of all

Members (or Members which are States when decisions are taken on subjects on which only such Members are entitled to vote)

2.2 Voting rights (Article 11(a) and Regulation 57) Each Member shall have one vote subject to Article 31, which defines the case of

suspension:Delegations entitled to vote are those in good standing of their contributions of the Organization pursuant to Resolution 37 (Cg-XI) – Suspension of Members for failure to meet financial obligations, Resolution 35 (Cg-XII) – Settlement of long-outstanding contributions and Resolution 41 (Cg-XV) - Settlement of long-outstanding contributions.

2.3 Type of vote 2.3.1 Show of hands (Regulation 59)

Designated staff members will count the votes

2.3.2 Roll-call (Regulation 60) Shall be at the request of any delegation; delegations are called in alphabetical order

(in the French language) of the list of Members entitled to vote

2.3.3 Secret ballot1 (Regulations 61, 62, 63) For all elections, except when there is only one candidate (or the number of

candidates is equal to the number of positions to be filled), and for decisions on request of at least two delegations; Members are called; two tellers among delegates required; voting slips destroyed after announcement and acceptance (see also 2.5.2); electronic voting system could be used

2.3.4 Consensus 1 Motion will not be debated. The process of voting by secret ballot will be carried out.

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Enables decision-making without voting but cannot be formally imposed or pursued by delegation(s) or presiding officer

2.4 Majority required (Article 11(b)) In general, for any type of vote including elections, the majority required is calculated

taking into account the number of valid votes (not including abstention or blank or invalid voting slips (Regulation 58)) by the delegations of Members (or Member States) present having voting rights

NOTE 5After the presiding officer has announced that voting has commenced, no one may interrupt the voting except for a point of order concerning the manner of conducting the vote (Regulation 108).Voting by secret ballot has preference to roll-call, if both have been requested (Regulation 61).

2.4.1 For decisions:

2.4.1.1Only Members which are States can vote; approval by two-thirds majority of all Member States is required

- Amendments to the Convention not involving new obligations for Members (Article 28(c))

- Requests for membership (Article 3(c), (e))- Relations with the United Nations and other

intergovernmental organizations (Articles 25 and 26)

NOTE 6If in the case of draft amendments to the Convention this two-thirds majority of all Member States is not reached, but two-thirds majority of Member States present and voting for and against is obtained, Congress may decide to submit to next Congress the same draft amendment for a new vote.

2.4.1.2 Any other decision (Articles 11(b), 28(b))o Two-thirds majority of delegations (of Member States for Article 28(b))

present, and voting for and against

NOTE 7Decisions of Congress are recorded in resolutions or in the general summary of the work of the session.

2.4.2 For elections valid (Article 11(b)) Simple majority of the votes cast

2.4.2.1 Election of the President and Vice-Presidents (Regulation 84) (a) Simple majority not reached (Regulation 87)

o Separate elections for each office in order; simple majority (Article 11(b)); only Member States vote (Article 11(a))

o Second ballot with the two candidates with the highest number of votes; if other candidate obtains the same number of votes as the second candidate, he/she shall also be included in the list for the next ballot

(b) Same number of votes (Regulation 90)o Another ballot; if still no decision, then decision by drawing lots

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NOTE 8For elections, the simple majority shall be the next integer immediately above the half of the voting slips received, excluding abstentions and blank or invalid voting slips (Regulation 64(b)).

NOTE 9The President and the three Vice-Presidents shall normally belong each to a different Region (Regulation 84).

2.4.2.2 Election of Executive Council members (Article 11(a)) and Regulation 17o Only Member States vote

(a) First election (Regulation 86(a)) Separate ballot, when necessary, to fill the required minimum number of four seats for each of the Regions; the ballots are conducted simultaneously;

(b) Second election (Regulations 86(b), 88, 89)To fill simultaneously per Region, by one or several subsequent ballots, the remaining seats for this Region, taking into account Regulation 17 stipulating the distribution of seats of the Executive Council;

(c) Further ballot (Regulation 88(c))If further ballots are needed, the total number of candidates shall not be greater than twice the number of places to be filled.

2.4.3 For appointment of Secretary-General (Regulation 199) Delegations of all Members with voting rights; first step, application of “indication of

preference” procedure by secret ballot; second step, two-thirds majority of the votes cast for the preferred candidate, if not already obtained

2.5 Counting of the votes

2.5.1 Blanks, counting abstentions, or invalid slips in case of paper ballots (Regulation 58) Not included in the counting

2.5.2 Invalidity (Regulations 83, 86) Contains name(s) not appearing in the list of candidates (in election) Contains more names than number of seats to be filled (in election) Contains more names, for any Region, than the maximum number of seats remaining

possible (election for Executive Council) Voter’s identity revealed by any notation, mark or sign (in secret ballots)

2.5.3 Explanation of vote (Regulation 108) Either before or after the count except for secret ballot; the mover of a point of order

during a vote shall not be permitted to explain his/her vote

2.5.4 Results of a vote/election The presiding officer should give:

(a) The number of delegations present and entitled to vote(b) Quorum required (c) Number of abstentions, blank and invalid votes

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(d) Number of valid votes cast (e) The required majority then either:

(i) For voting: the total number of votes cast for and against the proposal(ii)  For elections: the number of votes received by each candidate in descending order and announce the name(s) of those elected

2.5.5 Destruction of voting slips (Regulation 62) The voting slips are destroyed immediately after the announcement of the result of

the election or of the vote by secret ballot on any matter and its acceptance by the meeting

NOTE 10Details on voting procedures for elections and the appointment of the Secretary-General are given in Appendix B and Appendix C

3. Working committees

3.1 Election of chairperson (Regulation 31) The President shall preside until a chair is elected

3.2 Members of committees Any member of a delegation may join any working committee

3.3 Vote In principle no vote should be held; the chair should seek a consensus as far as

possible or obtain an idea of the tendency within the body through an informal show of hands

3.4 Report to plenary (Regulation 110) To be submitted by the chair on behalf of his/her committee along with an oral

introduction

NOTE 11In view of the open-ended nature of working committees, a vote, when necessary, shall normally be taken on the basis of the number of Members present and voting, dispensing with the provisions of the Regulations governing the conditions for obtaining the quorum required; decision is taken by simple majority (Regulation 65). The result of such a vote shall, however, be reported in the discussion part of the report to plenary.

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Appendices: 3

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Appendix A:

DESCRIPTION OF THE CONCEPT OF A POINT OF ORDER

1. A point of order is basically an intervention directed to the presiding officer, requesting him/her to make use of some power inherent in his/her office or specifically given to him/her under the General Regulations. It may, for example, relate to the manner in which the debate is conducted, to the maintenance or order, to the observance of the General Regulations, or to the way in which presiding officers exercise the powers conferred upon them by the Regulations. Under a point of order, a delegate may request the presiding officer to apply a certain Regulation or question the way in which the officer applies the Regulations. Thus, within the scope of the General Regulations, delegates are enabled to direct the attention of the presiding officer to possible violations or misapplications of the Regulations by other delegates or by the presiding officer himself/herself. A point of order has precedence over any other matter, including procedural motions (Regulations 97 and 107).

2. Points of order raised under Regulation 97 involve questions necessitating a ruling by the presiding officer, subject to appeal. They are, therefore, distinct from the procedural motions provided for in Regulations 104 to 107, which can be decided only by a vote and on which more than one motion may be entertained at the same time. Regulation 107 lays down the precedence of such motions. They are also distinct from requests for information or clarification, or from remarks relating to material arrangements (seating, interpretation system, temperature of the room, documents, translations, etc.), which — while they may have to be dealt with by the presiding officer — do not require rulings from him/her. However, in practice, a delegate intending to submit a procedural motion or to seek information or clarification often entitles his/her request for the floor as a “point of order”. The latter usage should be distinguished from a true point of order under Regulation 97.

3. Under Regulation 97, a point of order must be immediately decided by the presiding officer in accordance with the General Regulations; any appeal arising therefrom must also be immediately put to vote. It follows that, as a general rule:

(a) Neither a point of order, nor any appeal arising from a ruling thereon, is debatable. Any discussion on an appeal shall be limited to the appellant and the presiding officer;

(b) No point of order on the same or a different subject can be permitted until the initial point of order and any appeal arising therefrom have been disposed of.

Nevertheless, both the presiding officer and delegations may request information or clarification regarding a point of order. In addition, the presiding officer may, if he/she considers it necessary, request an expression of views from delegations on a point of order before giving a ruling; in the exceptional cases in which this practice is resorted to, the presiding officer should terminate the exchange of views and give a ruling as soon as he/she is ready to announce that ruling.

4. Regulation 97 provides that a delegate raising a point of order may not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion. Consequently, the purely procedural nature of points of order calls for brevity. The presiding officer is responsible for ensuring that statements made on a point of order are in conformity with the present description.

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Appendix B:

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONSOR VOTING BY SECRET BALLOT

1. Before voting begins, the presiding officer shall hand to the two tellers appointed by him/her the list of Members entitled to vote.

2. The Secretariat shall distribute a ballot paper to each delegation present and entitled to vote. Every ballot paper shall be of the same size and colour without distinguishing marks.

3. The tellers shall satisfy themselves that the ballot box is empty and then lock it.

4. Members shall be called to vote in turn in the French alphabetical order.

5. The representative of the Secretary-General and the tellers shall record each Member’s participation in the vote by marking in the margin the list of Members entitled to vote.

6. At the conclusion of the calling of Members, the presiding officer shall ensure that all the Members present and entitled to vote have been called. He shall then declare the voting closed and announce that the votes are to be counted.

7. When the ballot box has been opened, the tellers shall count the number of ballot papers. If the number exceeds that of the voters, the presiding officer shall declare the vote invalid and another ballot shall be held.

8. The counting of votes takes place in the presence of the constituent body.

9. For elections, a teller shall read aloud the name or names on the ballot paper. On a document drawn up for this purpose the number of votes obtained by each candidate mentioned shall be written opposite that name by the other teller.

10. A ballot paper on which nothing is written or which bears the word “abstention” shall be considered as an abstention.

11. The following shall be considered null and void:

(a) Ballot papers in which the voters have revealed their identity, in particular by opposing their signature or mentioning the name of the Member they represent;

(b) Ballot papers bearing the name of any person not appearing in the established list of candidates;

(c) Ballot papers on which there are more names than elective places or on which the name of any candidate appears more than once.

12. When the counting of the votes is completed, the tellers shall indicate the result in a document drawn up for that purpose, which they shall sign and hand to the presiding officer after verification by the representative of the Secretary-General. The presiding officer shall announce the result of the election in the following order: number of Members present and entitled to vote; number of abstentions; number of ballot papers null and void; number of valid votes cast; number required for a majority. For elections: names of candidates and the number of votes secured by each of them in descending order of the number of votes. For any other vote: number of votes for and against the proposal.

13. The ballot papers shall be destroyed after the declaration of the results of the ballot and their acceptance by the meeting.

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Appendix C:

VOTING PROCEDURES FOR THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT, VICE-PRESIDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL AND FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Article 11 of the Convention and General Regulations 57 to 65 contain the basic rules governing voting at Congress.

2. Procedures for the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and members of the Executive Council of the Organization are set in General Regulations 80 to 90. Article 13 of the Convention governs the composition of the Executive Council and the regional distribution of its seats.

3. The procedure for the appointment of the Secretary-General is governed by General Regulations 197 to 200.

4. The purpose of this Appendix is to describe how these rules and procedures operate.

5. These rules and procedures are adjusted as required in order for Congress to conduct the elections of the President, the three Vice-Presidents and the appointment of the Secretary-General using the WMO electronic voting system with keypads, as documented in Part III below.

II. VOTING RULES AND PROCEDURES

A. Elections

A.1. General

6. Prior to any election, a list of candidates proposed by the Nomination Committee and from the floor is to be approved by Congress.

7. In accordance with Article 11 (a)(4) of the Convention, only the delegate of Member States of WMO having voting rights may vote in the elections of the President, Vice-Presidents and members of the Executive Council.

8. General Regulation 82 states that when there is only one candidate, he/she shall be declared elected without a ballot. Subject to the limitations of Article 13(c) of the Convention, this provision also implies that if there are two or more candidates for the same number of positions to be filled, all these candidates shall be declared elected without a ballot.

9. All elections are by secret ballot in accordance with General Regulation 82. Pursuant to Article 11(b) of the Convention, these elections shall be by simple majority of the votes cast.

A.2. Elections of the President and Vice-Presidents

10. If elections are necessary, there will be separate elections for each of the offices of President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President and Third Vice-President, in that order. In accordance with General Regulation 84, the President and the three Vice-Presidents shall normally each belong to a different Region.

11. Where a candidate obtains a simple majority excluding abstentions and blank or invalid voting slips, he/she is declared elected (General Regulations 87 and 64 (b)).

12. Otherwise, a second ballot is held between the two candidates having obtained the highest number of votes. However, if two or more candidates should receive the same number of votes

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after the one with the highest number, they will all be included in the second ballot (General Regulation 87).

13. If no candidate obtains a simple majority with a second and third ballot, the selection is effected by drawing lots (General Regulation 90).

A.3. Election of members of the Executive Council

14. The Article 13 of the Convention defines the number of members of the Executive Council, including the President and three Vice-Presidents of the Organization as well as the presidents of the six regional associations. All seats are to be distributed so that each Region shall have at least four seats and no more than nine. In accordance with General Regulation 86, the election is to be made in two stages.

First stage

15. The first stage will be to bring the number of members of the Executive Council from each Region up to the prescribed minimum of four.

16. Taking into account that the presidents of the six regional associations are ex-officio members of the Executive Council as well as the Region of origin of the President and three Vice-Presidents of the Organization (whose election takes place beforehand), there are 14 seats to be filled at this first stage, i.e. between two and three for each Region.

17. If the number of candidates corresponds to the number of seats to be elected in each Region, the candidates are declared elected without a vote.

18. In all other cases, there will be an election for each Region from amongst the names of the candidates from the Region concerned as previously approved by Congress (see paragraph 5 above).

19. For each Region, the presiding officer will declare the candidates having obtained the simple majority of votes cast for and against as elected. If for a single seat two candidates reach a simple majority, the candidate having obtained the highest number of votes is declared elected.

20. Further ballots can be organized along the lines of the procedure referred to in paragraphs 11 and 12 above for any seat for which no candidate has obtained the required majority.

Second stage

21. The second stage of the election is to fill the remaining seats on the Executive Council. Since no Region can have more than nine seats under Article 13 of the Convention, the maximum additional seats to be filled for any Region during this second stage is five. For this purpose, a second election consisting of separate elections conducted simultaneously shall be held to fill the remaining places on the Executive Council, on the basis of a list containing the names of candidates from particular Regions in order to satisfy the requirement in accordance with Article 13 (c) (ii) of the Convention and Regulation 17, except those who have been elected in the first stage above. In this second election, separate voting slips shall be used for each Region involved. In addition to the provisions of Regulation 83, a voting slip shall be invalid if it contains a number of names greater, for any Region, than the maximum number of seats which remains possible for that Region, in accordance with Article 13 (c) (ii) of the Convention and Regulation 17. A voting slip containing fewer names than the number of places to be filled shall be valid and shall not be regarded as an abstention, provided it contains at least one name (see paragraph 5 above).

22. If the number of candidates in a Region obtaining a simple majority exceeds the number of seats available, the candidates having obtained the highest number of votes are declared elected, subject to the maximum referred to in the preceding paragraph. If the number candidates obtaining a simple majority is lower to the number of seats to be filled in a Region,

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the candidates having received a simple majority are declared elected and a second ballot is conducted to fill the remaining seats for this Region.

23. For the second ballot, the list of candidates for a Region consists of those who obtained the highest number of votes in the first ballot, provided that the number of candidates shall be limited to twice the number of seats still available (General Regulation 88(c)).

24. As many ballots as necessary per Region shall be called to fill the available seats. For each ballot, the President recalls, as appropriate, the maximum number of seats still available to each Region under Article 13 of the Convention.

B. Appointment of the Secretary-General

25. As with any other vote, the presiding officer has first to ascertain that there is a quorum, i.e. that at least a majority of the Members of the Organization are present. Unlike with the Officers and Executive Council elections, all Members (States and Territories) having voting rights may vote for the appointment of the Secretary-General.

26. Where there is only one candidate, he/she can be declared appointed without a ballot. If a vote takes place, it shall be by secret ballot in accordance with General Regulation 82. The appointment of the Secretary-General requires a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast for and against. Any candidate receiving this majority at any stage is declared appointed.

27. In order to progressively reduce the number of candidates, those receiving no vote or the fewest number of votes in the first round are removed from the list of candidates for the subsequent round of voting. However, if two or more candidates receive the smallest number of votes, a vote of preference should be taken between them. If more than one candidate still receives the smallest number of votes, they will be eliminated from the list.

28. There shall be as many voting rounds as necessary to reduce the list of candidates to one, whose appointment needs to be confirmed by a two-third majority of the votes cast for and against. If there are two final candidates with an equal number of votes, only one further round shall be taken.

29. If the remaining single candidate does not receive the required majority or no preference is expressed in a vote between two final candidates, Congress shall decide whether, how and when to proceed to appoint the Secretary-General (General Regulation 199 (h)).

III. WMO ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM FOR INDICATION OF PREFERENCE

1. INTRODUCTION

Modernization of WMO constituent body voting system

Following previous use of electronic voting systems during Congress for the election of officers and EC members, the WMO Secretariat pursued its effort to generalize the introduction of an electronic voting process to be used in constituent bodies.

The rationale behind this initiative is that an electronic voting system is easier, quicker and more reliable in terms of getting results and of integrity and contributes to the efficiency of the sessions.

Technical solution

The electronic voting system used by the Congress at its eighteenth session will be a customized system based on radio wave exchanges between a set of individual keypads and a central receiving station. The software is parameterized to accommodate various types of elections and votes.

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2. USE OF ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS

The basic principle is to reproduce as faithfully as possible the traditional voting system using voting slips during ballots by setting up the system, and in particular its underlying software, in such a way that the selection’s process follows all the steps in compliance with the WMO Convention, General Regulations and Procedure and Practices of the Congress.For instance, in the case of a vote based on indication of preference, the following table presents a comparison between steps of the traditional voting system and their electronic voting equivalent.A demonstration will be organized for delegates prior to the elections, to allow them to familiarize themselves with the electronic voting system through a trial vote.

Traditional voting system versus electronic voting system

Paper ballot procedure Electronic voting procedure

Tellers show to delegates the ballot box is empty

Tellers confirm to delegates that the voting system is set properly with the pieces of information required to run the election

The presiding officer requests Secretariat to print ballots, etc.)

The presiding officer requests the Secretariat to enter the names of the candidates in the system, so that voters can cast votes for up to the required number of candidates to be selected, or indicate no preference, therefore leaving their ballot “Blank”. The presiding officer asks the Secretariat to print an initial tellers’ report and asks the tellers to check the names on the list are correct.

The Secretariat distributes ballot paper (voting slip) to each Principal delegate (or his/her Alternate)

At the presiding officer’s request, the Secretariat generates security and identification parameters (e.g. usernames and/or passwords) for each Principal delegate, prints and distributes paper slips containing this information to each delegate under tellers watch (the same username and/or password will be used by each delegate during one voting session; they should be kept secret and not exchanged between delegates).

Principal delegates are called in turn to vote (or delegates are invited to remain at their seats and to cast their vote by putting their voting slips in the ballot box when presented to them)

Presiding officer declares the vote OPEN, the Secretariat activates a voting session so that equipment (individual keypads) can be used and Principal delegates are asked to cast their votes following the instructions provided.

The presiding officer asks if all Principal delegates have voted

The presiding officer asks if all Principal delegates have voted.

The presiding officer declares the voting closed and announces the opening of the counting

Presiding officer declares the voting CLOSED, asks the Secretariat to deactivate the system for voting and to produce the tellers’ report.

The tellers open the ballot box and count voting slips; votes are counted in presence of the delegates

The tellers check that the automatically produced tellers’ report contains all the required information. This process takes place in the presence of the delegates.

The tellers complete and sign the report provided and hand it to the presiding officer

The tellers sign the report provided and hand it to the presiding officer in the presence of

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Paper ballot procedure Electronic voting procedurethe delegates.

The voting slips are destroyed in presence of delegates on request of the presiding officer

The information corresponding to the ended voting round is erased in presence of the tellers and delegates on request of the President.

Using the WMO electronic voting system with keypads

The following section describes how a vote session will be run using individual keypads.The keypad allows sending information to a central station by pressing one or more buttons in a row and receiving short messages from this central station.The upper window screen would visualize the digits pressed upon as well as the messages received from the central station.Instructions to be followed at any time:To be registered by the central station and accounted for in the identification step and in voting rounds, the information entered - a series of one digit– MUST be followed by pressing the OK button (e.g. lowest right hand side button). This would result in a feedback message from the central station acknowledging the entry.The “garbage” button (e.g. lowest left hand side button) allows for erasing already keyed in digits – and appearing on the upper screen - ONLY BEFORE pressing the OK button.

Individual keypad distributed to Principal delegates or their alternates.(*) A faulty keypad will be replaced if necessary, but it will be the presiding officer’s decision whether all or part of a vote session has to be cancelled and repeated.

Generic procedure:Keypads will be distributed individually to each Principal delegate (or his/her Alternate) at the beginning of a vote session. (A vote session is a set of vote round(s) during which the SAME keypads(*) allocated to delegates will remain in use, with no change or permutation of keypads allowed.)To identify all voters participating in a vote session, each voter will be given a PIN code (5 digits to be kept secret and not exchanged) to be entered (keyed in) when requested by the President. This will set up the list of keypads to be activated for the coming vote session.At each vote round, the presiding officer will declare the vote OPEN. The administrator will then activate all the recognized keypads. Principal delegates can enter and send information until the President declares the vote round CLOSED. The administrator will then deactivate the keypads. Only the information properly sent and received by the central station will be accounted for to establish the result of a vote round.

Depending on the vote rules (indication of preference or not, required majority), the system will be set up accordingly by the administrator under tellers and WMO Secretariat control.

Information needed for the voters – such as instructions for proceeding to a vote round, names of candidates to positions, question to be answered - will be either displayed on screens in the room or provided on paper (or both), so that voters have enough time to prepare their votes.

General features to prevent accidental usage of the keypads:

The following remarks are aimed at giving indications and guidance to the voters in order to prevent sending a vote which does not correspond to their intents:

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To press a digit that has already been pressed to make a selection will have no effect on the choices already made: the series of digits already keyed in will remain unchanged;

Reminder: Pressing “0” is for voting “BLANK” and must be followed by pressing the OK button to be sent and received as such.If “0” is keyed in otherwise, only the other keyed in choices will be accounted for when the OK button is pressed;

When the number of choices of possible answers in a list is limited, only the first pressed digits up to the number of digits allowed are visible on the screen and can be sent. To press another digit is not possible, and the initial choices are kept unchanged;

Before pressing the OK button and sending the digits appearing on the screen, corrections can be made by pressing the “garbage” button; this erases all previously keyed in digits, and the full new selection of digit(s) has to be keyed in.

More information

The tellers’ report is created automatically by the system. Tellers, with the assistance of the Secretariat print it out, check it, and hand it to the presiding officer, who will read it. Then the presiding officer will summarize the conclusion drawn from the ballot results and indicate what the next step(s) should be.

In the case of a separate vote to select preferred candidates amongst candidates having obtained the same smallest number of votes in the previous ballot, the presiding officer shall ask the Secretariat to set up the system for an indication of preference between those sole candidates. The sequence is the same.

Should a drawing of lots be required, the traditional system will be used (paper slips).

Cg-18/INF. 10, p. 16

Voting process and procedures

STEPS ACTION SECRETARIAT RESPONSIBLE DESCRIPTION

Identification and recognition of active voters1 Presiding officer asks Principal

delegates to come to receive from Secretariat staff a keypad and password(s) or requests Secretariat to distribute keypads and password(s) (PIN codes) to Principal delegates.

(CER, CNF and ITD) (CER stands for the Secretariat as the representative of the election administrator of the system), CNF for logistics and distribution and ITSS for network support

Tellers observe and make sure that the number of passwords for distribution is correct.

2 Presiding officer declares the identification round OPEN, instructs Secretariat to ACTIVATE the system.

CER,CNF and ITSS activates system

Tellers observe

3 Voters enter their PIN code and confirm by pressing OK. Keypads are useable for voting only if the message “ACTIVATED” is received.

CER and CNF Tellers observe

4 President asks if everyone has sent his/her PIN code and then instructs Secretariat to DEACTIVATE the system. He declares identification round CLOSED.

CER, CNF and ITSS deactivates system

Tellers observe. Principal delegates who have not entered their PIN code will have their keypad deactivated for the whole vote session and will be counted as “Abstention” in the tellers’ report.

Organization of a vote round1 Presiding officer requests Secretariat

to enter into the system the names of candidates or a question formulation.

D/CER and D/LC Tellers observe

2 Presiding officer requests tellers to confirm that electronic ballot is correct.

CER and D/LC Tellers check the list in the system and on printed tellers’ initial report and confirm

3 Presiding officer asks if all Member delegations are ready to vote and instructs Secretariat to ACTIVATE the system. He declares the voting round OPEN.

CER, CNF and ITSS activates system

Tellers observe

4 Presiding officer asks Member delegations to cast their vote by pressing appropriate digit(s) then “OK”. A vote by a Member delegation is counted only when the message “RECEIVED” is sent back on his/her keypads.

CER, CNF and ITSS Assisted by ITSS and guided by Secretariat staff if needed

Cg-18/INF. 10, p. 17

STEPS ACTION SECRETARIAT RESPONSIBLE DESCRIPTION

Specific instructions will be provided to Member delegations in advance depending on the type of vote. It will be crucial to follow them scrupulously.In order to facilitate voting, appropriate list of candidates will be shown on screens to allow Member delegations to prepare their votes.

5 Presiding officer asks if everyone voted and then instructs Secretariat to DEACTIVATE the system. He declares voting round CLOSED

CER, CNF and ITSS deactivates system

Tellers observe

6 Teller’s report is printed immediately by Secretariat Election Administrator and given to tellers

CER and D/LC The tellers check the report and pass it on presiding officer

7 Presiding officer provides instructions for the next round if needed.

D/CER and D/LC

8 Presiding officer instructs Secretariat to ERASE database from the previous round and to prepare the system for the next round

Secretariat Election Administrator erases database and prepares list for the next round with guidance of D/CER and D/LC

Tellers observe and confirm erasure from previous round.

9 Presiding officer announces final results as they might come up depending on the type of vote and majority required

10 When relevant:If one last preferred candidate is left but he/she has not received the required majority, Presiding officer announces last round to vote for decision at the same required majority to designate him/her as the winner

Secretariat Election Administrator puts in the list:YESNOAbstain

Tellers observe

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