Security Council Voting and the Veto

The Security Council is the principal organ of the UN charged with keeping international peace and security. It has 15 members. Each member has one vote.

Five members are permanent: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The other ten are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Permanent members hold their seats indefinitely.

On substantive matters, such as imposing sanctions or authorizing force, a resolution needs at least nine yes votes. It also needs no veto from a permanent member. Procedural matters need nine votes, and the veto does not apply.

A veto is a no vote by a permanent member that blocks a resolution. This holds even if the other fourteen members vote yes. An abstention is not a veto. The resolution can still pass.

Think of a group of fifteen friends choosing a restaurant. Nine must agree. But five friends each hold a right to cancel any choice alone. Those five must be won over, or at least not opposed.

This shapes what the Council can do. Action needs agreement among the five, so the Council often stalls when one of them opposes a proposal, especially one that touches its own interests or allies. The Charter of the United Nations sets these rules. Changing them requires the permanent members' own consent.

The Council votes with fifteen members and needs nine yes votes. Five permanent members can each block a substantive resolution with a veto. That is why the Council acts only when the five can live with the outcome.