Straw polls are informal, non-binding votes conducted among the Security Council’s 15 members. The ballots are secret and only Council members are present during the exercise. The Security Council ultimately adopts a resolution, traditionally behind closed doors, recommending an appointment to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. He said Otunnu would be included, even though he has yet to take part in informal hearings completed by other candidates. Otunnu‘s CV states that he invented the system of straw polls to choose a new secretary-general while president of the Security Council in 1981.