IAS Governing Council election procedures
According to Article 8.11 of the IAS Bylaws, the term of office on the Governing Council (GC) shall be four years. Elections shall occur in a staggered manner. A GC member may be re-elected for one additional consecutive term.
Before the commencement of the GC elections, the President-Elect and Treasurer shall be elected from among and by the current GC members. The IAS Secretariat shall arrange for nominations and assist in the voting procedures for the GC seats being vacated for each region.
Phase I – Nomination
In November 2023, GC members who are eligible to run for a second and final term shall be approached and invited to either accept or decline the offer to run for re-election.
The IAS Secretariat shall commence election-related communication with all its paid members in January 2024. At this time, an email will be sent, announcing that nominations are open in each region for the upcoming elections. The email shall: list the responsibilities and benefits of becoming a GC member; include the criteria and deadlines for a completed nomination; and list the competencies sought in future GC candidates. In order to ensure geographical representation from across the regions, only one member per country can be elected to the GC. Therefore, members in countries already represented by the remaining regional representatives in each region cannot be nominated to run for election*. Nominations will be accepted from 17 January to 7 February 2024.
Only individuals who have been paid-up IAS Members for at least one year at the time of the call for nominations on 17 January 2024 may nominate candidates for the GC. The candidates are required to have been paid-up IAS Members for at least two years on 17 January 2024.
In February 2024, a list of nominations from each region will be collected by the IAS Secretariat, which will identify all nominees with two or more nominations from eligible IAS Members and whose dues are paid. The IAS Secretariat shall then contact these nominees to confirm their interest and solicit recent photos, CVs, requirements declaration and biographies, which shall include each candidate’s aspiration for the IAS and two references. Nominees who fail to respond during this time shall be removed from further consideration. The candidates’ competencies shall thereafter be matched against a competency framework by the IAS Nomination and Election Committee (NEC).
In March 2024, the NEC shall present to the GC a list of candidates who have accepted their nominations, together with their material and the competency framework. GC members who are up for re-election and have confirmed that they will run for a second term shall be automatically included on the final list of candidates.
Phase II – Voting
In April 2024, all final candidates shall be listed on a virtual voting site, together with their material. Individuals who have been IAS Members for at least one year and who have paid their membership fee before the call for nominations shall be contacted by email and asked to vote electronically for candidates in their region by ranking the candidates in their preferred order. Votes will be accepted from 3 to 24 April 2024.
In May 2024, the candidates with the highest score in each region shall be identified, taking into consideration the one-member-per-country rule (except for the United States and Canada region, where both countries shall be represented) and the assigned seats for one member in the Caribbean and one member in the MENA region. The assigned seat for a member from the Caribbean shall be filled by the member with the most votes in this area in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The assigned seat for a member from the MENA region shall be filled by the member with the most votes across the countries in the MENA region. Assigned seats for thematic areas of expertise shall be filled by members with the most votes across the regions.
The 2024 GC elections shall be completed by the end of May 2024. The outcome of the elections shall be presented at the IAS General Members’ Meeting in conjunction with AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Munich, Germany, and virtually from 22 to 26 July 2024. The results shall also be posted on the IAS website.
*Except for the United States and Canada region, where both countries shall be represented. IAS Members in the following countries will not appear on the list of potential nominees in the 2024 IAS Governing Council elections due to the one-member-per-country rule: Burundi, India, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.