May 28, 2025

Asia Pacific Regional Vice Chair NEC 2025 Nominations Report


 
The Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) for the Asia Pacific Regional Vice Chair (AP RVC) received five nominations.  The NEC verified eligibility for each nomination.  
  • Three candidates were found to be eligible:  One candidate, Shaun Smithson, subsequently voluntarily withdrew from the race;  Two eligible candidates remain, Suma Shamanna and Jasper Lee.  
  • Three other people were nominated:  In the first case, neither the nominator nor the nominee were currently members of Democrats Abroad (DA).  In the second case, the nominator was not a DA member, and the person he nominated declined to run for the position through self-nomination.  In the third case, the nominee (self-nomination) was a DA member but did not submit a completed candidate profile before the deadline; the missing items were proof of citizenship and their candidate statement. 
In addition to presenting a slate of candidates for this position, the NEC also attempted to obtain consent from Country Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs, as required by privacy rules, to share their contact details with the candidates.  While we achieved some success, we did not receive all the consent required and were unable to make a complete list available to the candidates in a timely manner.  The NEC recommends consideration of this process in official DA AP and DA channels to permit complete transparency and fairness for the future.  We suggest it may be possible to utilize standardized, generic email contacts (such as vchair@democratsabroadCOUNTRY.org) to protect privacy and enable communications among elected DA officials.