docs: Add Tech Council election process documentation (#12)

Author: amithanda

.github/CODEOWNERS

@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@
 /CONTRIBUTING.md         @Universal-Commerce-Protocol/governance-council
 /CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md      @Universal-Commerce-Protocol/governance-council
 /SECURITY.md             @Universal-Commerce-Protocol/governance-council
+/TC_ELECTIONS.md         @Universal-Commerce-Protocol/governance-council
 
 /.github/CODEOWNERS      @Universal-Commerce-Protocol/governance-council

GOVERNANCE.md

@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@
   Shopify), each with 1 vote (total 8 votes).
 - Includes 4 members from any org, each with 1 vote (total 4 votes), elected
   by the TC every 6 months, based on their technical contributions towards the
-  protocol. Members can be re-elected any number of times.
+  protocol. Members can be re-elected any number of times. See
+  [TC_ELECTIONS.md](TC_ELECTIONS.md) for more details.
 - Decisions are made with a majority vote.
 - Any TC member may request a review from the Governing Council at any time
   for any additional inputs.

TC_ELECTIONS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+<!--
+   Copyright 2026 UCP Authors
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+-->
+
+# Election Process for Tech Council
+
+## Overview
+
+UCP Tech Council (TC) includes four seats for non-founding organizations that
+are open for re-election every six months, in June and December. See
+[GOVERNANCE.md](GOVERNANCE.md) for more details on the UCP Governance Process.
+
+## Election Process
+
+The election date is finalized by the Governance Council and the [nomination
+form] is shared on the [UCP announcement board].
+Organizations must submit the form by the deadline to be considered for the
+TC. The UCP Governance Council may decide to conduct elections at any time if
+there are open seats.
+
+## Election Criteria
+
+The primary criteria for nomination are based on the following factors:
+
+- The organization is aligned and committed to UCP principles of building an open
+  ecosystem and vendor-agnostic architecture.
+- The organization has made contributions towards the growth and adoption of the
+  protocol by endorsing, implementing, and promoting the protocol.
+- The organization has made contributions towards the technical health and
+  growth of the protocol by contributing via issues, PRs, etc.
+
+## Vacating an existing seat
+
+Existing non-founding organization TC members can vacate their seat at any time
+by informing the TC. The open seats will be considered for the upcoming
+election.
+
+## Re-election for existing members
+
+Existing non-founding organization TC members must submit the [nomination
+form] to be considered for the upcoming elections.
+
+[nomination form]: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScY2KyMMy3QntjbBuBJgFGrrcTeP06ZsZK1MU3OFYjKxQfsRw/viewform?usp=dialog
+[UCP announcement board]: https://github.com/Universal-Commerce-Protocol/ucp/discussions/categories/announcements