Add announcement of 2026 Packaging Council Nominees (#117)

Co-authored-by: Pradyun Gedam <pradyunsg@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: pradyunsg

content/posts/2026-packaging-council-nominees/index.md

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+---
+title: "Announcing the Packaging Council Election Candidates for 2026!"
+publishDate: "2026-08-13"
+author: Pradyun Gedam
+description: "Announcing the 17 nominees for the inaugural Python Packaging Council election, and how to vote in the election."
+published: true
+---
+
+What an exciting list! Please take a look at who is running for the inaugural Python Packaging Council (PPC) [on the Nominees page](https://www.python.org/nominations/2026-python-packaging-council/nominees/). This election has 17 nominees for 5 open seats on the council.
+
+## Election Overview
+
+This inaugural election fills all five seats on the PPC. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be designated Cohort A with a two year term, and the three candidates receiving the next highest number of votes shall be designated Cohort B with a one year term.
+
+In future elections, each cohort will be elected for a full two-year term in alternating years, so that roughly half of the PPC turns over each cycle.
+
+### Election Timeline
+
+- Nominations open: Tuesday, July 28th, 2:00 pm UTC
+- Nomination cut-off: Tuesday, August 11th, 2:00 pm UTC
+- **Announce candidates: Thursday, August 13th**
+- Voter affirmation cut-off: Tuesday, August 25th, 2:00 pm UTC
+- Voting start date: Tuesday, September 1st, 2:00 pm UTC
+- Voting end date: Tuesday, September 15th, 2:00 pm UTC
+
+Not sure what UTC is for you locally? Check this [UTC time converter](https://savvytime.com/converter/utc)!
+
+## Reminder: Affirm your intention to vote
+
+**If you wish to vote in this election, you must affirm your intention to vote no later than Tuesday, August 25th, 2:00 pm UTC, to participate in this election**.
+
+Every PSF Voting Member (Supporting, Contributing, and Fellow) needs to affirm their membership to vote in this election. Find more information, including step-by-step instructions on voting affirmation, in our ["Affirm Your PSF Membership Voting Status" blog post](https://pyfound.blogspot.com/2026/07/affirm-PSF-voting-status-2026.html).
+
+If you run into any issues, or have questions about your membership, please contact [pc-elections@python.org](mailto:pc-elections@python.org).
+
+## Voting: What to expect
+
+If you are a voting member of the PSF that affirmed your intention to participate in this election, you will receive an email from "OpaVote Voting Link \<[noreply@opavote.com](mailto:noreply@opavote.com)\>" with your ballot -- the subject line will read "Python Packaging Council Election 2026" on September 1st. If you don't receive a ballot as expected, please first check your spam folder for a message from "[noreply@opavote.com](mailto:noreply@opavote.com)".
+
+If you don't see anything, please get in touch by emailing [pc-elections@python.org](mailto:pc-elections@python.org) so we can look into your account and make sure we have the most up-to-date email for you.