USS R9 South Asia Council
Election Announcement for the 2027–2029 Term

01Purpose

Under Establishment Announcement No. 1 of the USS R9 South Asia Council (issued 7 May 2026), preparatory work for the Council is under way. This announcement gives public notice of the election of the first governing bodies of the Council for the 2027–2029 term. It sets out the positions and seats, the eligibility of candidates, the nomination routes, the voting and election thresholds, the public comment on results and the handling of objections, and it formally opens nominations.

The proposed term runs from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029, provided that the results complete the required public comment and become effective. The Chair serves a three-year term and may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

02Positions and seats

Under the bylaws, Vice Chairs must not exceed eight and Standing Council Members must not exceed 32. Final confirmation of the seats, and of whether the Chair and Vice Chairs are counted within the Standing Council membership, will be issued with the nomination notice.

The Supervisory Board for this term consists of one Supervisor, who also serves as Chief Supervisor. This differs from the division charter as to the number of Supervisors and requires prior approval by the competent USS governing body; where the approved arrangement provides otherwise, the approved arrangement prevails.

Where the number of eligible candidates is fewer than the seats, this does not create an automatic election or permit unverified substitutions. Approval voting, vacancies or subsequent elections shall follow the approved rules, and any adjustment of the Council size requires prior USS approval.

2.1 Objectives for this term

The objectives for this term have been fixed and apply as structural constraints on the formation and operation of the first Council:

These objectives are directly linked to seat allocation, regional and disciplinary distribution, and the work plans of candidates. The work plan submitted by a candidate shall be aligned with the objectives for this term, and verification of regional and disciplinary coverage is carried out during candidate eligibility review.

2.2 Composition of the first Council

The first Council for this term is constituted by the 26 R9 founding members. Upon verification, the founding members automatically become members of the first Council and obtain Council membership for the term. The number of voting Council Members is therefore N=26, and no separate election of the first Council is required.

The founding members are the 26 records in the filtered Preparatory Committee Member Application sheet, confirmed record by record; any record failing verification is not counted towards N, and USS shall fill the shortfall through the applicable procedure.

The objectives for this term require full country coverage across the R9 region and Council Members covering more than 10 disciplines, whereas the country and disciplinary distribution of the present 26 founding members does not yet meet those objectives. After the first Council is constituted, additional Council Members may be added under the procedure prescribed by the division charter; the procedure, the list and the effect on N shall be announced separately.

03Eligibility of candidates

3.1 Membership

Voters and candidates must hold valid USS membership, complete R9 registration and meet applicable dues obligations. Student and honorary members do not have electoral, candidacy or voting rights under the USS Constitution V1.0. The representation and voting entitlements of institutional and society members must be specified separately; additional individual votes must not be assumed.

3.2 General conditions

Candidates shall support the purposes of USS, have a good reputation and the capacity to serve, consent in writing, and undertake to observe the charter and perform their duties. A division head, including the Chair and Vice Chairs, must not exceed the age of 70.

3.3 Independence and incompatibility of Supervisors

Supervisors must be independent and must not concurrently hold Council or other incompatible offices. Drawing on the Constitution, Council members, executive officeholders, finance personnel and full-time Secretariat staff may not serve as Supervisors. A person nominated for incompatible positions must select one candidacy before publication of the official candidate list.

There is one Supervisor for this term. As Supervisors may not concurrently serve as Council members, the Supervisor candidate shall be selected from outside the 26 founding members.

3.4 Precondition of Council membership

Candidates for Chair, Vice Chair and Standing Council Member must obtain membership of the incoming Council before their respective votes. For this term, the founding members obtain that membership upon verification. The first General Assembly shall be constituted by eligible R9 members, or by delegates elected under an approved procedure. The function of the voting members or delegates of the Assembly is limited to confirming Council membership, electing the Supervisor and dealing with authorized matters; it no longer includes electing the first Council. The Council elects the Chair, the Vice Chairs and the Standing Council Members.

04Notification to members in the R9 region

All members in the R9 region shall be notified of this election. Notification shall be issued through the USS membership system, the official website, the R9 official digital platforms and the contact channels recorded at membership registration, and shall at the same time be posted on the USS website in a form that remains available for reference. The notice shall state the election matters, positions and seats, the term, the key schedule, eligibility requirements, nomination routes, submission arrangements, the objection channel and contact details for enquiries.

Notification shall give members in every country or area of the region an equal opportunity to participate. India serves as the preparatory hub; this does not exclude eligible members in the other South Asian countries from standing. The representation and voting entitlements of institutional, society and group members must be specified separately; additional individual votes must not be assumed.

Notification and registration do not confer eligibility. A candidate must still hold valid USS membership, have completed R9 registration, and have met applicable dues obligations; student and honorary members do not have electoral, candidacy or voting rights under the USS Constitution V1.0.

R9 founding members automatically become members of the first Council upon verification, and must still complete nomination and submission of materials under Sections 5 and 6 to stand for office in this term; founding member status does not exempt them from the procedure.

Records of notification, the scope of distribution and feedback received shall be retained for audit, and shall form part of the materials against which compliance with this announcement and the Election Plan is reviewed.

05Nomination routes

Candidates for Chair, Vice Chair, Standing Council Member and Supervisor may be nominated under either of the following routes:

• Route A: jointly nominated by at least two USS Directors.
• Route B: jointly nominated by at least one USS Chair and at least one USS Director. This route requires two distinct individuals; one person holding both titles cannot count as two nominators.

USS Chair and USS Director refer here to current officeholders of USS headquarters. Any extension to officeholders of the division would require express USS authorization in the nomination notice. Nominators shall provide verifiable appointment details and written recommendations.

06Nomination materials and submission

Each candidate shall submit:

1. the candidate nomination and review record (the English Candidate Application Form may be used, as may the table annexed to the Election Plan);
2. evidence of USS membership and Council eligibility, including membership number, category and dues status;
3. the USS office, verifiable appointment reference and written recommendation of both nominators;
4. the candidate's written consent to stand;
5. a CV and work plan;
6. a declaration of conflicts of interest and concurrent appointments;
7. consent for publication of specified information;
8. for Supervisor candidates, an independence declaration and a declaration of no incompatible appointment.

Submission channel: [email protected] (subject to confirmation of the address in the formal notice). The Working Group records the time of receipt and acknowledges each submission. Objections shall be received through an independent oversight channel and shall not be handled by a candidate who is the subject of the complaint.

Deadline: nominations close at 12:00 on 30 October 2026. Requested corrections must be supplied by 18:00 that day. Corrections must not introduce a new candidate or substitute the substantive nominating parties after the deadline. Review and oversight verification shall be completed that day, with the official lists for all four position categories published by 23:59.

07Schedule

All times are Beijing time, UTC+8. This schedule depends on the approvals and on the Council membership of the founding members taking effect in time. The membership application deadline of 15 August 2026 and the date of the first R9 Council General Assembly stated in Establishment Announcement No. 1 are adjusted by this announcement; the treatment of the earlier application records is set out in Section 9.

08Voting and election thresholds

8.1 Organization of voting

The election shall be conducted by electronic secret ballot in stages. Chair, Vice Chair and Standing Council Member rounds are held in sequence, and the Supervisor election shall use a separate electorate and ballot. The window for every round will be specified in the voting notice issued on 1 November, and all rounds shall end by 3 November.

Each eligible voter has one valid ballot per round; proxy voting is not permitted. The system shall authenticate voters, prevent duplicate voting, retain voting and counting audit records, and separate authentication data from anonymous ballots. Recognition of electronic attendance and voting requires USS approval; receipt of a voting email alone does not establish attendance.

Vote supervision for this election shall be exercised by the Election Oversight Commissioner, Ms. Cristina Brasi, who shall oversee eligibility checks, candidate lists, electronic voting, counting and objections, verify the electorate and election thresholds, and confirm the validity of results. The Commissioner shall not stand as a candidate in this election.

8.2 Attendance threshold

Leadership elections are conducted under Article 19 of the bylaws: with N voting Council Members, verified attendance in each round must be at least 60% of N, rounded upwards. For this term N=26, so verified attendance in each round must be at least 60% of 26, rounded upwards, namely 16. Attendance is verified separately for each round, and absent members must not be deleted to reduce the denominator. The First General Assembly follows the Constitution requirement of more than two thirds of delegates being present.

8.3 Election thresholds

With one or two Chair candidates, the candidate receiving the highest number of affirmative votes and more than half of the Council members present is elected. With more than two candidates, a contested election is required and the highest-polling candidate must obtain more than two thirds of valid votes.

Vice Chairs are elected seat by seat under the corresponding Chair rules. For Standing Council Members a limited-choice ballot is used: selections cannot exceed the available seats, and candidates must receive affirmative votes from more than half of the Council members present before being ranked within the seats. One Supervisor shall be elected by the First General Assembly through a secret ballot, and is elected where the candidate obtains affirmative votes from more than half of the voting members or delegates present; that Supervisor shall also serve as Chief Supervisor.

8.4 Ballots and exceptional cases

Ballots shall offer an explicit abstention. It is proposed that properly completed affirmative, negative and abstention ballots from eligible voters count as valid, and that blank and over-selected ballots are invalid; the valid-vote denominator shall be confirmed by USS before voting. Abstention, invalid ballots and non-voting do not count as affirmative votes and do not reduce the verified attendance.

A tie affecting an election requires a further vote among the tied candidates. If no candidate meets the threshold, the pre-announced repeat-vote procedure applies; the highest vote total alone is not sufficient. Unsuccessful Chair candidates may consent to stand for Vice Chair or Standing Council Member, and unsuccessful Vice Chair candidates for Standing Council Member, subject to the relevant nomination and eligibility requirements.

System failures shall be recorded and reported immediately to the Commissioner, who assesses the impact and determines suspension, resumption or a fresh vote. If repeat voting cannot be completed by 3 November, affected vacancies and revised public comment arrangements shall be announced separately. Thresholds must not be lowered and results must not be backdated.

09Treatment of the existing application records

The Preparatory Committee shall use the filtered Preparatory Committee Member Application sheet, comprising 26 records for the R9 region, as the contact and verification source, obtaining each applicant's membership number, category, dues status, date of birth, regional connection, consent to stand and independent voting contact. These records constitute the composition of the first Council for this term, and Council membership is confirmed on this basis following record-by-record verification; until verification is complete they are not evidence of confirmed Council membership or electoral rights.

The original intake sheet still includes non-South-Asian applications and must not be combined with the filtered records, which would duplicate entries. Where the country field and the institution location are inconsistent, or where a submission email address is shared by different applicants, the individual must be contacted. Citizenship, institution name or a shared submission email alone must not determine eligibility or justify the deletion of an application.

Applicant, preparatory committee, discipline coordinator or executive workstream status does not automatically confer a Council vote.

Register checks and appeals are handled on 29–30 October. Registers are finalized by 31 October, with appropriate verification access for voters. Changes require supporting reasons, records and oversight confirmation.

The statement in Establishment Announcement No. 1, that applicants who submitted before 15 August 2026 may be eligible to stand for the 2027–2029 term positions and to serve as delegates to the First R9 Council General Assembly, is confirmed and retained. The earlier application records do not lapse through this call, but each candidate must still submit the nomination materials under Section 5 and complete eligibility verification.

10Public comment on results and objections

USS shall publish the election results under Article 25 of the bylaws for seven calendar days, from 00:00 on 4 November to 23:59 on 10 November 2026. The notice shall state the names, institutions, regions, positions and terms of the provisionally elected officeholders, the election date, attendance and necessary count data, the oversight findings, and the objection channel.

Officeholders shall be described as provisionally elected during the public comment period. Objections may concern eligibility, nomination authenticity, procedure, counting or conflicts of interest, and should state the facts and provide evidence where possible. Objections shall be logged and acknowledged promptly; the Commissioner shall arrange the investigation, with recusals and USS determination where needed.

Where the Commissioner has participated in a nomination in a capacity as a USS Director, or otherwise has a direct interest in a matter, the Commissioner shall disclose that position and recuse from the verification of that matter, which shall be handled by another person designated by USS. Recusals shall be recorded and retained.

Verified clerical errors shall be corrected. Material objections potentially affecting the election shall suspend the effectiveness of the position concerned. Expiry of 10 November does not make an unresolved disputed result effective. Any recount, new election or renewed public comment shall be announced separately by USS.

Effectiveness is distinct from taking office on 1 January 2027. During the transition, the preparatory body holding valid authority continues to perform its duties and the incoming officeholders take part in the handover.

11Appointment of the Secretary General and handover

The Secretary General shall be nominated by the elected Chair and appointed following Council review and approval; USS may appoint directly in special circumstances. The Secretary General is not included in the direct ballots for the four position categories. The appointment resolution shall specify the effective and commencement dates.

Within ten business days of effectiveness, documents, registers and official account access shall be handed over against a written record. The incoming governing bodies shall approve the 2027 work plan within their respective authority.

The R9 Council has not yet been established, so there is no handover of finances or assets in this term. The divisional financial system will be established and completed during the term and, once completed, shall be filed with the USS Council for record and audit in accordance with Article 20 of the division charter.

After the first Council is constituted, Council Members other than the Chair, Vice Chairs, Standing Council Members, the Supervisor and the Secretary General do not thereby lose their Council membership or voting rights. In order that they may carry specific responsibilities, the Council will, under Article 8 of the division charter, prepare a proposal for the establishment of an Executive Committee together with its management rules for approval by the USS Council before implementation, and may establish secondary professional or regional committees, whose chairperson shall, in principle, be a Standing Council Member or a senior Council Member. The related proposals and appointments shall be aligned with the objectives for this term and cover the country and disciplinary distribution.

12Accompanying documents and references

1. Election Plan for the 2027–2029 Term (for approval).
2. English Candidate Application Form (USS_R9_Governance_Candidate_Application_Form_EN.docx).
3. The USS Constitution V1.0.
4. Bylaws of USS Professional Councils, Societies and Regional Councils (Draft), Articles 3, 8, 17–20, 23 and 25–27.
5. USS R9 South Asia Council Establishment Announcement No. 1, 7 May 2026.

Records: nomination registration, eligibility review, list versions, voting logs, counting, oversight, reporting, public comment, objection handling and handover records shall be maintained by the body designated by USS, under its records and personal information procedures. Public documents require authorized review.

13Contacts

• Election matters and submission of materials[email protected]
• Conveners and Secretary of the Preparatory CommitteeDr. Prabagarane N ([email protected]); Dr. Kishore R ([email protected])
• USS Assistant SecretaryMs. Jessie Song ([email protected])
• Vote SupervisionMs. Cristina Brasi ([email protected])