UN Membership

While all UN Member States are part of the UN General Assembly, most other UN bodies are composed of smaller numbers. Elections are held regularly to fill seats. Some subsidiary bodies consist of individuals appointed in their personal capacity rather than as representatives of Member States.

• The General Assembly elects some members of the Economic and Social Council, Security Council, and Human Rights Council each year
• Voting on elections is usually held by secret ballot and the total number of ballots for each candidate is noted in the decision and meeting record

In general, parent organs elect members to their subsidiaries:

• Each year, the General Assembly also elects members to its subsidiaries, such as the Committee on Conferences 
• Economic and Social Council holds elections for its functional commissions and expert groups, such as the Statistical Commission

Election outcomes are usually decisions (rather than resolutions); information on candidates, voting, and final results may be found in the meeting records at which the election was held as well as in other data sources for UN decisions such as the compilations of resolutions and decisions and online sources like edelegate and press releases. Key words to use in UN Digital Library searches include: member*, candidat*, elect*, participa*.

Elections are usually held with due regard to "equitable geographical representation" to ensure that UN Member States from all parts of the world are included in the body. ​Resolutions or decisions establishing a new body will often indicate the total number of members and the number of seats allocated to each region. 

The first mention of "equitable geographical representation" is found in UN Charter Article 23 which specifies that non-permanent members of the Security Council should be elected by the General Assembly with "due regard ... to equitable geographical representation". The Preparatory Committee also used this phrase in its proposed Rules of Procedure for the General Assembly (PC/EX/113/Rev.1). The General Assembly's Rules of Procedure have used this phrase since 1946. 

Over time, resolutions on equitable geographical representation were adopted with regard to the composition of the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiaries, as well as to officers of the General Assembly. Some notable resolutions include:

• A/RES/207 (III): Distribution of membership in subsidiary organs of the Economic and Social Council 
• A/RES/1192 (XII): Composition of the General Committee of the General Assembly
• A/RES/1990 (XVIII): Question of the composition of the General Committee of the General Assembly: amendments to rules 31 and 38 of the Assembly's rules of procedure
• A/RES/1991 (XVIII): Question of equitable representation on the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council
• A/RES/2847 (XXVI): Enlargement of the Economic and Social Council
• A/RES/33/138: Question of the composition of the relevant organs of the United Nations : amendments to rules 31 and 38 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly

​Regional groups play an important role in negotiations related to elections to the various UN bodies. Each regional group usually proposes the candidates from its region for a particular election, in accordance with the number of seats allocated to the regional group.

When the elections are held, voting usually takes place by regional group; see for example, A/73/PV.89. Elections are usually conducted by secret ballot: a summary of the vote is given, but there is no information on how each state voted individually. See the UN Documentation : Overview : Voting research guide for more information on different kinds of vote.

Elections are held in the General Assembly for many bodies, including:

• General Assembly President, Vice-Presidents, Chairs of the Main Committees
• Security Council
• Economic and Social Council
• Human Rights Council
• Subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly composed of Member States, including:
  • Committee on Conferences
  • Committee on Contributions
  • Committee on Information
• Subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly composed of experts or individuals appointed in their personal capacity, including:
  • Board of Auditors
  • International Law Commission

Elections are held in the Economic and Social Council for its subsidiaries

• Composed of Member States, such as:
  • Commission on the Status of Women
  • Statistical Commission
• Composed of experts or individuals appointed in their personal capacity, such as:
  • Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
  • UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names

Elections for roles such as Chair, Vice-Chair, etc. usually take place within a body. Elections for the officers of the Main Committees of the General Assembly take place in each Committee.

Appointment of officials, such as the Secretary-General, judges of the International Court of Justice, and high-level officials, often takes into account geographic representation. The report of the Secretary-General on the composition of the Secretariat concerns the geographic representation of the staff, among other factors.

Membership in and election to UN bodies can be difficult to research.

For current information, check

• e-delegate
• UN Journal 
• website of the organ.

Resources for historic research on membership and elections include:

• UN Yearbook: Appendix III: Structure of the United Nations, lists all bodies that met during the year and their composition
• Resolutions and decisions of the electing body
• Annual report of principal organs to the General Assembly
• Annual or sessional report of subsidiary bodies to their parent organ
• Index to the Proceedings of the principal organs

Often decisions are not published in official documents until long after the election has been held. Decisions may cite the date of the meeting, but not the symbol of the meeting record document that records the candidates and the voting.