A/61/PV.36 General Assembly

I have a procedural question before we begin the balloting. We would like to propose that we establish some kind of a timeframe for the voting process, because we have committee meetings and other engagements and matters to attend to. With its indulgence, therefore, we would ask the presidency to clarify, before the end of the day, how the process will be structured — without, of course, getting into substantive questions regarding candidatures and so on. We have other committee work and engagements. My proposal, therefore, is to devote two or three days per week to this issue. I also propose that the General Assembly take into consideration the Id al-Fitr holiday, and not schedule any votes on Monday and Tuesday.

The presidency will take into account the comments of the Ambassador of Egypt. For the twenty-third round of balloting, may I remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States may be a candidate, except those out-going members and those already members of the Security Council, namely, Argentina and Peru. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. We shall now begin the voting process. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B” will be declared invalid if they contain the name of more than one State. If a ballot paper contains the name of a Member State that does not belong to that region, that ballot will be declared invalid. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 5 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Votes obtained: Guatemala 108 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 77 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We must therefore proceed to the eleventh unrestricted ballot. For the twenty-fourth round of balloting, may I remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Latin American and Caribbean States may be a candidate, except those outgoing members and those already members of the Security Council, namely, Argentina and Peru. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B” will be declared invalid if they contain the name of more than one State. If a ballot paper contains the name of a Member State that does not belong to that region, that ballot will be declared invalid. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 7 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Votes obtained: Guatemala 106 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 79 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We must therefore proceed to the twelfth unrestricted ballot. For the twenty-fifth round of balloting, may I remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Latin American and Caribbean States may be a candidate, except those outgoing members and those already members of the Security Council, namely, Argentina and Peru. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B” will be declared invalid if they contain the name of more than one State. If a ballot paper contains the name of a Member State that does not belong to that region, that ballot will be declared invalid. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 8 Required two-thirds majority: 123 Votes obtained: Guatemala 103 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 81 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the twenty-sixth round of balloting, which is the thirteenth restricted ballot. The twenty-sixth round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. That is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Guatemala or Venezuela, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 7 Required two-thirds majority: 123 Votes obtained: Guatemala 104 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 80 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the twenty-seventh round of balloting, which will be the fourteenth restricted ballot. This twenty-seventh round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the name of one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Guatemala or Venezuela, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 8 Required two-thirds majority: 122 Votes obtained: Guatemala 105 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 78 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the twenty-eighth round of balloting, which will be the fifteenth restricted ballot. This twenty-eighth round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the name of one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Guatemala or Venezuela, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 8 Required two-thirds majority: 123 Votes obtained: Guatemala 105 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 79 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We must therefore proceed to the thirteenth unrestricted ballot. For the twenty-ninth round of balloting, may I remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Latin American and Caribbean States may be a candidate, except those outgoing members and those already members of the Security Council, namely, Argentina and Peru. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B” will be declared invalid if they contain the name of more than one State. If a ballot paper contains the name of a Member State that does not belong to that region, that ballot will be declared invalid. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B – Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 7 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Votes obtained: Guatemala 107 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 77 Costa Rica 1 This unrestricted ballot has again been inconclusive. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we should continue with a series of unrestricted ballots. However, in view of the lateness of the hour, I propose that we postpone further balloting until 3 p.m. this afternoon. Unless I hear any objection, I shall take it that the Assembly agrees with that proposal.