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5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council | ||||
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| Unsuccessful candidates |
 India (Asian Group)
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 Ireland (WEOG)
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 Sweden (WEOG)
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The 1986 United Nations Security Council election was held on 16 October 1986 during the Forty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations HeadquartersinNew York City. The General Assembly elected Argentina, Italy, Japan, West Germany, and Zambia, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1987.
The Security Council has 15 seats, filled by five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. Each year, half of the non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms.[1][2] A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election.[3]
In accordance with the rules whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes,[4] the five available seats are allocated as follows:
To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. If the vote is inconclusive after the first round, three rounds of restricted voting shall take place, followed by three rounds of unrestricted voting, and so on, until a result has been obtained. In restricted voting, only official candidates may be voted on, while in unrestricted voting, any member of the given regional group, with the exception of current Council members, may be voted on.
Prior to the election, the Mexican delegate on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group endorsed Argentina's candidacy, the West German delegate reiterated the Western European and Other Group's endorsement for Italy's candidacy as well as his country's, and the delegate of Senegal, speaking only for his own government, endorsed Zambia and clarified that his country's candidacy was for the following session.[6]
Voting was conducted on a single ballot. Ballots containing more states from a certain region than seats allocated to that region were invalidated.
| Member | Round 1[6] |
|---|---|
 Zambia |
154 |
 Argentina |
143 |
 Italy |
143 |
 West Germany |
111 |
 Japan |
107 |
| India |
36 |
| Sweden |
16 |
| Ireland |
14 |
 Bolivia |
3 |
| Argentina |
1 |
 Belgium |
1 |
 Belize |
1 |
 Cuba |
1 |
 Finland |
1 |
 Greece |
1 |
 Lesotho |
1 |
 Malaysia |
1 |
 Mexico |
1 |
 Netherlands |
1 |
 Senegal |
1 |
 Sudan |
1 |
| abstentions | 0 |
| invalid ballots | 0 |
| required majority | 103 |
| ballot papers | 154 |
