UN starts voting for new Security Council members

The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday started voting by secret ballot for five new non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Vuk Jeremic, president of the 67th session of the U.N. General Assembly, presided over the election, which kicked off at around 10:40 a.m. EDT (1540GMT) at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. The Republic of Korea, Bhutan and Cambodia are competing for one seat representing the Asia-Pacific region on the 15-nation Council, which, under the U.N. Charter, has the primary responsibility for maintening international peace and security. Argentina and Rwanda are widely expected to win seats as no other countries in their regions have nominated. Australia, Finland and Luxembourg are also working hard to vie for a spot for their grouping on the most powerful U.N. body. To be elected, a country must win 129 votes, or two-thirds of the 193-nation General Assembly. The five newly elected non-permanent council members will begin their two-year term on Jan. 1, 2013, replacing Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal and South Africa. The Security Council has five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and 10 non-permanent members.