Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the UN General Assembly, announced the outcome of the election at the end of the 17^th round of voting, which started on October 21.

In the voting, Pakistan, Morocco and Guatemala were elected in the first round, while Togo won the election in the third round.

To win election, a country must receive a two-thirds majority of those countries present and voting, regardless of whether or not they are the only candidate in their region.

The new council members will serve from January 1, 2012 to December 21, 2013 to replace the five outgoing members of the Security Council - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon, and Nigeria, whose term of office expires on December 31, 2011.

Under the UN Charter, the 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly. The regional groups for two-year stretches, with five elected in October each year, fill 10 of the Security Council's 15 seats.

The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security. It is composed of five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and 10 non- permanent members that are elected in groups of five to two-year terms on the council.

The presidency of the Council rotates between the countries serving in the peace and security body on a monthly basis based on the English-language alphabetical order of the countries' names.