Italy and the Netherlands square off for a UN Security Council non-permanent seat after Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Sweden elected to the powerful council.
Five non-permanent seats were up for grabs Tuesday in the vote by the 193-nation UN General Assembly.
Kazakhstan beat out Thailand in a second round, picking up 138 votes against 55 for Thailand and winning a council seat for the first time since its 1991 independence from the Soviet Union.
But after five rounds of voting, the Netherlands and Italy both fell short of the required majority, standing neck and neck at 95 votes each.
It remained unclear how many rounds would take place to fill the remaining council seat.
Italy has lobbied fiercely for a council seat, portraying itself as a crossroads country in the Mediterranean and touting its experience dealing with the refugee crisis.
The Netherlands, home to the International Criminal Court and other world tribunals, has played up its commitment to international justice.
In 1979, UN delegates voted 154 times in a contest between Colombia and Cuba before finally electing Mexico as a compromise candidate in the 155th round.
The UN Security Council consists of 10 non-permanent members who sit alongside the five permanent, veto-wielding members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
