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 vacating GC seats for each region.

Phase I – Nomination

Ahead of the call for nominations, 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 approx. six months prior to the close of elections. 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.

Only individuals who have been paid-up IAS Members for at least one year at the time of the call for nominations may nominate candidates for the GC. The candidates are required to have been paid-up IAS Members for at least two years at the time of the call for nominations.

Approx. five months prior to the close of elections, a list of nominations from each region is collected at 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).

Approx. four months prior to the close of elections, 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 they will run for a second term shall be automatically included on the final list of candidates.

Phase II – Voting

Approx. three months prior to the close of elections, all final candidates shall be listed on a virtual voting site, together with their material. Candidates 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.

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 non-anglophone Africa, one member in the Caribbean and one member in eastern Europe. These seats shall be filled by members with the most votes in these areas in the respective regions. Assigned seats for identified competencies shall be filled by members with the most votes across the regions.

The GC elections shall be completed at least one month prior to the International AIDS Conference. The outcome of the elections shall be presented at the IAS General Members’ Meeting in conjunction with the conference and posted on the IAS website.