Elections

10 April 2025
The election of six regional Chairs for the 2025–2029 term, concluded recently resulting in a win for

• Zeinab Koné, Mali for ILAE-Africa
• Kheng Seang Lim, Malaysia for ILAE-Asia/Oceania
• Raidah Albaradie, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for ILAE-Eastern Mediterranean
• Nicola Specchio, Italy for Europe
• Juan Carlos Perez Poveda, Colombia for Latin America
• Dave Clarke, Caribbean Chapter for North America

In the next step, the remaining members of the regional Committees will be elected. First a nomination round will take place followed by the elections.

Chapters may choose not to nominate or to nominate one, two or three candidates. Each person nominated must be from a different Chapter within the region and therefore no further members from the Chapters of the new Chairs can be nominated. The exception is North America where, given that there are only three Chapters, nominees can come from all three. Nominees for all regions should not have served more than one previous voting term on the regional committees. As such, ineligible candidates for each region are:

Ineligible from Africa:

• Amadou Gallo Diop (Senegal)
• Birinus Ezeala-Adikaibe (Nigeria)
• Angelina Kakooza (Uganda)
• Edward Kija (Tanzania)
• Mesua-Kabwa (Pierre) Luabeya (Congo DR)
• Sammy Ohene (Ghana)
• Jo Wilmshurst (South Africa)

Ineligible from Asia/Oceania:

• Andrew Bleasal (Australia)
• John Dunne (Australia)
• Seung Bong Hong (South Korea)
• Akio Ikeda (Japan)
• Satish Jain (India)
• Sunao Kaneko (Japan)
• Byung In Lee (South Korea)
• Shichuo Li (China)
• Kheng Seang Lim (Malaysia)
• Leonor Cabral Lim (Philippines)
• Shi Hui Lim (Singapore)
• Man Mohan Mehndiratta (India)
• Chong Tin Tan (Malaysia)
• Jing Jane Tsai (Taiwan)

Ineligible from Eastern Mediterranean:

• Ghaieb Al Jandeel (Iraq)
• Ahmad Beydoun (Lebanon)
• Hassan Hosny (Egypt)
• Ahmad Khalifa (Syria)
• Boulenouar Mesraoua (Qatar)
• Adel Misk (Palestine)
• Reda Ouazzani (Morocco)
• Chahnez Triki (Tunisia)

Ineligible from Europe:

• Alexis Arzimanoglou (Spain)
• Silvio Basic (Croatia)
• Sandor Beniczky (Denmark)
• Michel Baulac (France)
• Meir Bialer (Israel)
• Martin Brodie (Scotland)
• Dana Craiu (Romania)
• Helen Cross (UK)
• Alla Guekht (Russian Federation)
• Peter Halasz (Hungary)
• Kristina Malmgren (Sweden)
• Emilio Perucca (Australia/Italy)
• Simon Shorvon (UK)
• Torbjörn Tomson (Sweden)
• Eugen Trinka (Austria)
• Federico Vigevano (Italy)
• Matthew Walker (UK)
• Peter Wolf (Denmark)

Ineligible from Latin America:

• Patricio Abad (Ecuador)
• Eduardo Barragan (México)
• Patricia Braga (Uruguay)
• Manuel Campos (Chile)
• Roberto Caraballo (Argentina)
• Fernando Cendes (Brazil)
• Franz Chaves Sell (Costa Rica)
• Juvenal Guttierez-Moctezuma (México)
• Marco Tulio Medina (Honduras)
• Ricardo Meischenguiser (Argentina)
• Lilia Morales Chacon (Cuba)
• Andre Palmini (Brazil)
• Alejandro Scaramelli (Uruguay)
• Mario Arturo Alonso Vanegas (México)

Ineligible from North America:

• Amza Ali (Jamaica)
• Lionel Carmant (Canada)
• Dave Clarke (Caribbean)
• Marc A Dichter (USA)
• Jacqueline A. French (USA)
• Sheryl Haut (USA)
• Nathalie Jette (Canada)
• Jaideep Kapur (USA)
• Solomon Moshe (USA)
• Jeffrey Noebels (USA)
• William H. Theodore (USA)
• Sam Wiebe (Canada)

Chapters have been sent their nomination forms and have until 6 May to submit. The Elections Commission will assemble a full list of eligible nominations, and then from this list provide a slate of up to 15 candidates (per region) on the basis of non-weighted multiple nominations as submitted by the Chapters. Individuals on this list need to agree to stand. If 15 or less nominations are received, then all nominated candidates will appear on the ballot.

Elections will begin in June.

Elections Committee:
Solomon Moshé, Chair
Patricia Braga
Angelina Kakooza
Boulenouar Mesraoua
Emilio Perucca
William Theodore
Peter Wolf

25 February 2025
Election for Regional Chairs 2025-29: Results
The election for the regional chairs for the 2025-29 term concluded on 21 February. Article 1.12.C of the By-Laws state… “The candidate with the highest number of votes is successful”… Therefore, the results are as follows:

Africa

Sixteen Chapters were eligible and 14 voted. Zeinab Koné from Mali won with four votes and has accepted her election. The full results are as follows:

Asia/Oceania

Twenty Chapters were eligible and 18 voted. Kheng Seang Lim of Malaysia won with 10 votes and has accepted his election. The full results are as follows:

Eastern Mediterranean

Sixteen Chapters were eligible and 11 voted. Raidah Albaradie of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the sole candidate and received 11 votes. She has accepted her election.

Europe

Forty-five Chapters were eligible and 40 voted. Nicola Specchio of Italy was the sole candidate and received 40 votes. He has accepted his election.

Latin America

Seventeen Chapters were eligible and 14 voted. Juan Carlos Perez Poveda from Colombia won with six votes and has accepted his election. The full results are as follows:

North America

ILAE‐North America requires different consideration as it only consists of three Chapters. For this reason, a special committee, named the Regional Selection Committee, was created consisting of five members: one from each Chapter and two former Chairs of the region. They are Jackie French (former N America Chair), Sheryl Haut (former N America Chair), Ed Hogan (USA), Simeona Jacinto (Caribbean Chapter) and Dang Nguyen (Canada). The role of the Regional Selection Committee is to create a Regional Board by selecting the Chair and four elected members. In this round they selected Dave Clarke from the Caribbean Chapter as the Chair for the region for the 2025-29 term.

The Election Committee would like to congratulate all the winning candidates and wish them a successful tenure. They will officially take up their positions during the General Assembly at the International Epilepsy Congress in Lisbon this year. We would also like to thank all the candidates who ran in these elections, for their interest and hope for their continued contributions to the League in the future.

The next round will be nominations for members of the regional committees who will join the new Chairs for the next term. Nomination forms will be sent to the Chapters in the coming days.

Elections Committee:
Solomon Moshé, Chair
Patricia Braga
Angelina Kakooza
Boulenouar Mesraoua
Emilio Perucca
William Theodore
Peter Wolf

27 January 2025
Election for the Regional Chairs for the 2025-2029 Term

We are beginning the election of the officers for each of the regions for the 2025-29 executive term: Africa, Asia/Oceania, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Latin America and North America. The first step is the election of Chair for each region. To be eligible for election to Chair, an individual needs to have served on the regional committee as a voting (elected or appointed) or non-voting member for at least one term (four years), but no more than two voting terms (eight years). Past Regional Chairs (appointed or elected) are not eligible for election to a second term. The Election Committee contacted all the eligible candidates to ask them if they are willing to run; those who accepted are listed below.

To be eligible to vote, each Chapter must be up to date with its dues. Each chapter must vote for one candidate for the ballot to be valid. To be elected, the top candidate will receive the highest number of votes. Please note that the current Chair remains as a member of the Committee as Past-Chair. The deadline to vote is 21 February at midnight Eastern Standard Time.

ILAE‐North America requires different consideration as it only consists of three Chapters. For this reason, a special committee, named the Regional Selection Committee, will be created. It will consist of five members; one from each Chapter (each Chapter determining their own selection process), and the past two chairs of ILAE‐North America, as long as these individuals do not currently hold office on the ILAE Executive Committee, are not members of the elections committee and are not running for election. If no such person is available, then the individual who has most recently served in the ILAE Executive Committee from the region (and is not a candidate) will be included. The chair of the Selection Committee will be the immediate past ILAE‐North America Chair. The role of the Regional Selection Committee is to create a Regional Board by selecting the Chair and four elected members. The Regional Selection Committee is made up of Jackie French (former N America Chair), Sheryl Haut (former N America Chair), Ed Hogan (USA), Simeona Jacinto (Caribbean Chapter) and Dang Nguyen (Canada).

After election of the Chairs, the nomination and election of the remaining four members of each Regional Committee begins.

Africa

Birinus Ezeala-Adikaibe (Nigeria)

Asia/Oceania

 

Eastern Mediterranean

 

Europe

Latin America

North America

1 October 2024
Elections for the Management Committee for the 2025-2029 Term

The most recent round in the elections for the Management Committee for the 2025-29 term ended on 27 September. The candidates with the most votes are Eugen Trinka (Europe), Jo Wilmshurst (Africa) and Kette Dualibi Ramos Valente (Latin America). They have all accepted their election and we would like to congratulate them on their success and wish them a fruitful tenure. In addition, we would like to thank the other candidates who also ran in the election. The full results are listed below:

The global elections have now ended. The next round will be the election of regional Chairs. Voting will start in January.

Solomon Moshé, Elections Committee Chair
Patricia Braga
Angelina Kakooza
Boulenouar Mesraoua
Emilio Perucca
William Theodore
Peter Wolf

30 August 2024
Elections for the Management Committee for the 2025-2029 Term

Time has come to elect the ILAE Vice President, Secretary General and Treasurer for the 2025-2029 term. According to the Constitution, all newly elected members of the Executive Committee must be primary members of different countries, and not more than two can come from the same region. In consequence, as Dr. Alla Guekht from the Russian Federation has been elected as the next President, only one more candidate from Europe, but not from the Russian Federation, can be elected. Of all other regions, up to two candidates can be elected.
 
According to our Bylaws, the Election Committee is tasked with compiling a list of up to 15 candidates who have received multiple nominations from Chapters and are eligible and willing to serve. Twenty-nine such persons were identified; of these, 16 declined their candidacy. Below, the final list of 13 candidates representing six regions.
 
From 2 September, Chapters will be asked to vote for five persons from at least three regions on the list. Voting will close on 27 September. The appointment of the three elected officers to the specific offices is the responsibility of the President-elect with advice from the Election Committee.
 
Chapters’ votes are weighted according to their size as follows:

Chapters that do not collect dues have one (1) vote.

This voting terminates the global elections after which we proceed to the regional elections for the Chair of each region, and afterwards the other committee members.
 
Solomon Moshé, Elections Committee Chair
Patricia Braga
Angelina Kakooza
Boulenouar Mesraoua
Emilio Perucca
William Theodore
Peter Wolf

Jo Wilmshurst (Africa)

Ding Ding (Asia & Oceania)

John Dunne (Asia & Oceania)

Akio Ikeda (Asia & Oceania)

Manjari Tripathi (Asia & Oceania)

Chahnez Triki (Eastern Mediterranean)

Eugen Trinka (Europe)

Kette Dualibi Ramos Valente (Latin America)

Mario Alonso Vanegas (Latin America)

Amza Ali (North America)

Aristea Galanopoulou (North America)

Barbara Jobst (North America)

Jaideep Kapur (North America)

4 July 2024
Elections for the Management Committee for the 2025-2029 Term

The nomination round for the Management Committee for the 2025-29 term has concluded. According to our By-Laws, the Election Committee is tasked with compiling a list of up to fifteen candidates who have received multiple nominations from Chapters and are eligible and willing to serve. Twenty-nine such persons were identified; of these, sixteen declined their candidacy. Below, the list of thirteen candidates representing six regions who have agreed to run. Chapters will be invited to vote in the coming weeks.

• Jo Wilmshurst (Africa)
• Ding Ding (Asia/Oceania)
• John Dunne (Asia/Oceania)
• Akio Ikeda (Asia/Oceania)
• Manjari Tripathi (Asia/Oceania)
• Chahnez Triki (Eastern Mediterranean)
• Eugen Trinka (Europe)
• Kette Dualibi Ramos Valente (Latin America)
• Mario Alonso Vanegas (Latin America)
• Amza Ali (North America)
• Aristea Galanopoulou (North America)
• Barbara Jobst (North America)
• Jaideep Kapur (North America)

9 May 2024
Nominations for Management Committee for the 2025-2029 term

After the recent election of Prof Alla Guekht as our next President for the 2025-2029 term, we now proceed to the next stage, the election of the Vice President, Secretary General and Treasurer.

This part of the election takes place in 2 steps: 1) nomination of candidates and 2) voting. Chapters have been invited to submit 5 names of persons coming from at least 3 regions (Africa, Asia/Oceania, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Latin America, North America) that they propose for these offices. The deadline for submissions is 5^th June 2024.

In the nomination, each Chapter has 1 vote. The Election Committee will, from the received proposals, compile a list of up to 15 candidates who have received the most nominations, are eligible and willing to serve, and represent a regional distribution that ensures that the above rule on regional participation will be complied with. 

According to the Constitution, ‘each of the newly elected Management Committee (MC) members must be primary members of different Chapters’. Therefore, since the President-elect is from the Russian Chapter, no more primary members of that Chapter can now be elected. Also, no more than two of the newly elected members of the MC shall come from the same region. Therefore, no more than one European can now be elected whereas from each of the other regions up to two MC members can be elected.

Additionally, the Constitution states that ‘No member of the Executive Committee can serve more than two terms as an elected officer, unless elected as President’. Therefore, those who are ineligible and cannot be nominated are:

Solomon Moshé, Elections Committee Chair
Patricia Braga
Angelina Kakooza
Boulenouar Mesraoua
Emilio Perucca
William Theodore
Peter Wolf

Presidential Election 2025-2029, Runoff Round

Dr Alla Guekht has been elected ILAE President, 2025-29 after the runoff round was concluded on 1 May 2024. The results are as follows:

Out of the 127 Chapters, 111 voted while a further 7 were ineligible owing to non-payment of dues. The remaining 9 Chapters were eligible but did not participate.

It gives us great pleasure to inform you that Prof. Guekht has accepted her election as President for the next term. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Edward H. Bertram and Dr Roberto Caraballo for running. We are sure that they, along with all of our members, will join us in congratulating Prof. Guekht on her election and wishing her a productive and successful tenure as President.

Solomon Moshé, Elections Committee Chair
Patricia Braga
Angelina Kakooza
Boulenouar Mesraoua
Emilio Perucca
William Theodore
Peter Wolf

25 March 2024

The elections for the ILAE President for the 2025-2029 term have concluded. Dr. Edward H Bertram and Dr. Alla Guekht received the highest number of votes and were also tied in the number of votes received. According to the By-Laws, we will conduct a run-off between Dr. Bertram and Dr. Guekht which will start on 1 April and conclude on 1 May. All 127 Chapters will be invited to participate once again. The third candidate, Dr. Roberto Caraballo, received fewer votes and is therefore not eligible to participate in the next round. The Elections Committee thanks him for his participation, willingness to run and interest in the Presidency. The number of votes received per candidate are:

29 January 2024

From the list of eligible people, ILAE is pleased to announce the following candidates are running for ILAE President for the 2025-2029 term.

Ballots will be sent out on 29 January 2024 to each of the ILAE’s Chapters. Only Chapters that are up to date with their dues will be eligible to vote. Voting will conclude on 22 March. Chapters’ votes are weighted according to their size using the following gliding scale:

Chapters that do not collect dues have 1 vote.

Following the election of the President, we begin the process to elect the 3 members of the Management Committee.

Edward H. Bertram, III
CV | Statement

Roberto Horacio Caraballo
CV | Statement

Alla Guekht
CV | Statement

A message from the ILAE Executive Committee

The nomination for election to any ILAE office is based on previously discussed and approved eligibility criteria, and on what an individual has contributed to the mission and vision of the ILAE. The ILAE is not involved in national or international politics but is an organization striving for a world where no person’s life is limited by epilepsy; an organization based on the principle of inclusion of all health professionals who support people with epilepsy no matter where they live in the world and an organization that promotes the overarching principle of medical neutrality.

Historical Elections Information

Past elections results