UNSC/IEC TAGs - Annex A: Default Voting Procedure

In considering the voting response to documents, it has been noted that the voting members often were not voting because they had assumed a yes vote would be filed. In their opinion, consensus was apparent. It was determined that most members supported the comments and votes that were sent to the USNC General Secretary for forwarding to the IEC Central Office and felt that with all the time developing the original documents and the familiarity that developed over time made the documents, in most cases, acceptable for movement to the next stage.

It was agreed that the TA should vote, as a default, in most cases affirmatively. In cases where a no vote was requested, or comments came forward, some additional circulation may be required to affirm the negative vote or positive vote with comments. Depending on prior TAG discussions and agreements, alternative default ballot positions of negative or abstention might be proposed by the TA.

The following model was agreed on for how to process the documents forwarded for consideration in any of the five stages of the IEC process, i.e. PNWI, CD, CDV, FDIS, and IS. The model flow chart below is meant to be an indication of the various typical scenarios considered by the referenced TAGs. It is recognized that it is possible to have a split of TAG members where no position can be reached before the deadline, in which case the TA would notify the USNC to record an abstention.