Election Process for the ASO Address Council
What is the ASO?
The ASO (Address Supporting Organization) is an advisory body to ICANN on topics relating to Internet numbers and addresses. It was formally established in October 1999 when the directors of APNIC, ARIN and RIPE NCC, the three Regional Internet Registries that existed at the time, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The RIRs had previously proposed the creation of the ASO in a letter addressed to ICANN's Interim President on 23 July 1999.
The creation of this organization brought ICANN into the existing global policy development system for matters relating to IP addresses, a system in which the RIRs were already working. RIRs predate ICANN by many years.
What is the ASO AC and what is its composition?
The Address Council (AC) is responsible for the ASO's administrative functions.
The ASO Address Council comprises fifteen members, three from each of the five Regional Internet Registry (RIR) regions. It is responsible for overseeing and developing recommendations on IP addressing policies and advising the ICANN Board on these topics. It is also responsible for appointing two directors to serve on the ICANN Board through an open call for nominations and the corresponding selection process.
Two of the three members representing each RIR are elected by the corresponding RIR community, while the third is appointed by the Board.
Council members do not represent any RIR nor do they act in representation of any other entity or organization. Council members are appointed in a personal capacity and their position may not be delegated by or to any other individual or organization.
For more information on the ASO and its Address Council, click here to read the MoU.
As mentioned above, each Regional Internet Registry selects three (3) representatives to serve as members of the Address Council. One of these representatives is appointed by the Board of each RIR, while the remaining two are elected through an open call for nominations within their communities.
The purpose of the call for nominations is to elect a member to serve on the ASO Address Council.*
* As established in the Memorandum of Understanding subscribed by ICANN and the RIRs in October 2004, the ASO Address Council is also known as the NRO Number Council.
LACNIC Region Representatives
Each year, LACNIC launches an open public call for nominations to fill one (1) seat on the ASO AC corresponding to the LACNIC region. The elected representative serves a three-year term.
Meetings
LACNIC covers travel and accommodation expenses to any events that require the participation of the members of this Council appointed by LACNIC so that they can perform their duties.
Members of the Address Council will not receive from the ASO any compensation or reimbursement of expenses for their services. Likewise, the ASO will not indemnify or provide liability coverage for the actions of members of the Address Council.
Members of the ASO AC serve in an honorary capacity and therefore do not receive compensation for their services.
Elections
Who can be nominated? How are nominations submitted?
- Any individual from the LACNIC region may be nominated in this process, with the exception of Regional Internet Registry staff members, members of LACNIC's Board of Directors, and any individual having the same nationality as one of the ASO AC members elected by the LACNIC community and currently in office.
- Self-nominations are allowed.
- In order to be accepted, candidates must state that they are familiar with the LACNIC Policy Development Process, the role of the ASO AC, and the forms in which the community can participate in these processes.
- Only candidates who receive five expressions of support before expiry of the corresponding deadline may run in the election.
- The information on the candidates (acknowledgment of nominations, expressions of support, candidate bios) will be published on LACNIC's website.
- If the period established for the reception of candidate nominations expires and no candidates meeting all the requirements have been nominated, an additional 15-day nomination period will be announced during which the limitation regarding candidates’ country of origin will be waived.
- Should a member of the ASO AC be elected to the LACNIC Board of Directors, this member must resign from the ASO AC before taking office on the Board.
Who can vote and how is voting conducted?*
- Voting will take place at the LACNIC Public Policy Forum organized during LACNIC's second annual event.
- Anyone who is present in the room when voting begins may vote.
- Each voter may check the name of one candidate on the voting sheet. Each checkmark will be considered a vote.
- Votes are anonymous.
- A three-member commission appointed during the Public Policy Forum will be responsible for counting the votes. Candidates may not be part of this commission.
- Once the votes have been counted, the candidate with the highest number of votes will be proclaimed representative of the LACNIC region to the ASO AC.
- In the event of a tie between the winning candidates, a runoff vote will be held among the candidates with the highest number of votes, excluding all other candidates.
*Due to the pandemic declared by the WHO and considering that our in-person events are now being scheduled online, the format of community elections, which until recently were held in person at the Public Policy Forum, are currently being held online.
Information
All communications regarding the election of ASO AC members will be published on our website and through the Announcements (anuncios@lacnic.net, click here to subscribe) and Policy (politicas@lacnic.net, click here to subscribe) lists. They will also be distributed to the members of LACNIC.
For more information on the ASO, we recommend visiting the following link.
*On 21 October 2004, the NRO and ICANN subscribed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing that the NRO would fulfill the role, responsibilities and functions of the ASO as defined in the ICANN Bylaws. Following its official recognition as an RIR on 27 April 2005, AFRINIC became the fifth member of the NRO and consequently a party to the MoU between ICANN and the NRO.