Procedure for the election of a Bishop, SEPA Synod Assembly May 4 & 5, 2012

Based on the constitution of the synod, the following is the process we will follow to elect a bishop.   Please note that all voting members are responsible to be on the assembly floor at all times the assembly is in session. Times listed in the agenda are approximate and subject to change.

The first ballot for election of a bishop will occur on Friday morning. Our constitution states "The bishop shall be elected by the Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election on the first ballot." The first ballot will be a page with no names listed. Each voting member may place on the ballot one name of a pastor on the rolls of the ELCA.   The results of this ballot will be reported on Friday afternoon.   Following the report of the first ballot there will be a window of opportunity for those pastors receiving votes but not wishing to continue to remove their names from consideration on all future ballots. The Committee for the Election of a Bishop will attempt to contact all pastors receiving votes who are not present at the assembly. All pastors who have not removed their name from consideration and those who cannot be contacted will be carried forward to the second ballot.

The second ballot for the election of a bishop will occur late on Friday afternoon. The ballot will include all names of those pastors who have not requested their name be removed and those who cannot be contacted by the Committee. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast on the second ballot shall be necessary for election. The report of the second ballot will occur before the assembly recesses for the evening on Friday. Those candidates who will be carried forward to the third ballot (limited to the seven persons (plus ties) who received the greatest number of legal votes on the second ballot ) will receive several representative questions submitted by the members of the assembly. They will have Friday evening to prepare a response to one of those questions.

Voting members of the assembly will have an opportunity to submit questions they would like a candidate for bishop to answer. Those questions will be submitted on an official form provided and placed in the collection box in the registration area. All questions will need to be submitted prior to the second ballot for bishop on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday morning the biographical information of all candidates to appear on the third ballot will be distributed. Those candidates will also have an opportunity to answer the representative question they selected from the list provided.  The third ballot will follow this session. The results of the third ballot will be reported in the late morning. Two-thirds of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election.

The fourth ballot shall be limited to the three persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the third ballot. Prior to the fourth ballot, those candidates appearing on the ballot will have an opportunity to address the assembly. The results of the forth ballot will be announced early afternoon on Saturday. 60% of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election.

Prior to the fifth ballot for election of a bishop, those candidates who will appear on the ballot will have an opportunity to address the assembly. The fifth and all subsequent ballots shall be limited to the two persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the previous ballot. The fifth ballot for the election of a bishop occurs mid afternoon on Saturday with the results reported shortly before the assembly is scheduled to end. A majority of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election.

Copies of this document will be available at the Assembly.  You may also download a copy from our website by clicking here.