The 2004 United Nations Security Council election was held on 15 October 2004 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City during the 59th session of the United Nations

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. The General Assembly elected five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms commencing on 1 January 2005. The five candidate nations elected were Argentina, Denmark, Greece,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and Tanzania.

Geographic distribution

In accordance with the General Assembly's rules for the geographic distribution of the non-permanent members of the Security Council, and established practice, the members were to be elected as follows: one from Africa, one from Asia, one from Latin American and the Caribbean, and two from Western Europe and Other States.

Candidates

Before voting, the representative from

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

took the floor to formally withdraw his country's candidacy. The country has never been elected to the UN Security Council. Consequently, to Eritrea's withdrawal, all the available seats would be elected without any serious contest. The five declared candidates therefore easily obtained the required 2/3 majority in the General Assembly.

Results

Voting proceeded by secret ballot. For each geographic group, each member state could vote for as many candidates as were to be elected. There were 189 ballots in each of the three elections.

Group A — African and Asian States (two to be elected)

*United Republic of Tanzania 186 *Japan 184 *Bhutan 1

Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States (one to be elected)

*Argentina 188 *abstentions 1

Group C — Western European and Other States (two to be elected)

*Greece 187 *Denmark 181

References

UN Document A/59/PV.32
official records of proceeding

press release
UN News Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:United Nations Security Council election,2004 2004 elections

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