Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres still leads the race to become the next United Nations Secretary-General after a third UN Security Council secret ballot, diplomats said.
The 15-member council cast a ballot for each of the remaining 10 candidates, and the choices are: encourage, discourage or no opinion.
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has intended to run for the top job, but did not win the support of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Guterres received 11 encourage, three discourage and one no opinion, diplomats said.
Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak jumped to second spot in the race, diplomats said.
The Security Council will hold secret ballots until a consensus is reached on a candidate to replace UN chief Ban Ki-moon of South Korea who steps down at the end of 2016 after serving two five-year terms.
