Chicago2016.org

Date	Event
14 April 2007	Chicago selected as United States Bid City for 2016 Olympic Games
14 January 2008	Applicant Cities reply to IOC questionnaire
4 June 2008	Selection of Candidate Cities by the IOC Executive Board at SportAccord in Athens
4 June 2008	Candidature Procedure and Questionnaire made available to Candidate Cities
August 2008	Candidate Cities participate in the IOC Observer Program during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
12 February 2009	Candidature File submitted to the IOC
May—June 2009	IOC Evaluation Commission visits Candidate Cities
2 September 2009	Publication of the Evaluation Commission report
2 October 2009	Election of the 2016 Host City in Copenhagen

International Olympic Committee Members

There are currently 115 voting IOC members, 23 honorary members and 2 honor members. Any member who retires after serving the IOC for at least ten years and having rendered exceptional services to it may be elected as an honorary member of the IOC. Honor members can be elected from personalities outside the IOC who have rendered particularly special services to it. The Honorary President for Life, the honorary members and the honor members do not have the right to vote at the IOC session.

The IOC members are representatives of the IOC in their respective countries and not their country’s delegate within the IOC. As stated in the Olympic Charter: “Members of the IOC represent and promote the interests of the IOC and of the Olympic Movement in their countries and in the organizations of the Olympic Movement in which they serve.”

Voting procedure

IOC members vote by secret ballot. Voting will take place in successive rounds until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast. The IOC members in a country that has a candidate in the election must abstain from taking part in the vote whilst such candidate is still in the running.

Nonvotes, spoiled votes and abstentions do not count toward the calculation of the majority. For example, if 100 members are present but 4 abstain, the number of votes needed for a majority is 49.

If there is no majority in the first round, the city with the fewest votes drops out of the running, and the members vote again for the remaining candidates. If multiple rounds are needed, the city with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and there is a new round of voting. If two or more cities receive the same number of votes, a runoff election may be held, as appropriate, and the city with the fewest number of votes is eliminated.

The members will make their decision based on the Candidature Files produced by each city, the IOC Evaluation Commission’s report and the presentations made by the cities.