Nominating and Election Procedures for CoGS
Nominating and Election Procedures for Council of General Synod
Nominating and Election Procedures
For use at General Synod 2010
Procedures for electing the Council of the General Synod
1. The members of the General Synod from each diocese will collectively submit to the General Secretary on forms as annexed, no later than May 14, 2010, nominations of three of their members, one from each Order. They shall not nominate a person who has been a member of the Council for the two previous terms. They may also nominate their youth member for election to the Council. (The youth member is also eligible for nomination as a layperson).
2. After receiving the diocesan nominations the General Secretary shall
a) provide copies of the information about the nominees, as contained in the nomination forms, to the members of the General Synod from the dioceses in the respective ecclesiastical provinces, and
b) inform the General Synod Nominating Committee of the names of the nominees from each diocese.
3. If nominations are received from a diocese later than May 14, 2010, the General Secretary shall provide copies of the information about the nominees to the members of the General Synod from that diocese’s ecclesiastical province no later than when they register their attendance at General Synod.
4. At a time or times designated in the agenda of the General Synod, the members of the synod shall assemble in groups according to their ecclesiastical provinces.
5. The Nominating Committee of the General Synod shall assign one of its members to chair each of the provincial assemblies, such member being a resident in that ecclesiastical province. Such person shall have the right to vote.
6. If, at the time of the members so assembling, any diocese has not submitted its nominations, the members of that diocese may do so; if they do not do so the assembly shall nominate for that diocese.
7. A chart shall be posted listing by diocese the nominees from each of the three Orders.
8. The members who have been nominated may be identified for the information of those assembled.
9. The chairperson shall appoint six scrutineers from among those who have not been nominated.
10. Ballots shall be distributed and each member shall vote for his or her first choice among the nominees to serve on the Council of General Synod.
11 The member receiving the greatest number of votes shall be deemed selected. In the event of a tie where both candidates may be selected, it shall be deemed that both have been selected. Where only one may be selected, further votes between those so tied shall be taken. After three ballots, if the tie remains the chairperson shall cast a second vote to decide the issue.
12. If the first selection is made from the Orders of Bishops and Clergy, the second selection shall be made from the Order of Laity and vice-versa. If the first selection results in the nomination of persons from both the Orders of Bishops and Clergy and the Order of Laity, the chairperson shall determine from which group the second selection shall be made. Thereafter, the selections shall alternate between the two groups.
13. If the first selection from the Orders of Bishops and Clergy is a bishop, the next selection from those Orders shall be made from the Order of Clergy; if the first selection from those Orders is a priest or a deacon, the next selection from those Orders shall be made from the Order of Bishops.
14. After each selection, the other nominations for the diocese which the selected nominee represents shall be struck from the list of nominations.
15. When the prescribed number of nominees from the Orders of Bishops and Clergy or from the Order of Laity has been achieved, other nominations from those Orders or that Order shall be struck from the nominations.
16. When an ecclesiastical province is required to nominate more members than there are dioceses in the province, after one member has been nominated to represent each diocese:
i) if the additional selection is required from the Order of Laity, the selection shall be made from among those lay persons whose nominations had earlier been struck from the list;
ii) if the additional selection is required from the Orders of Bishops and Clergy, the selection shall be made from among the bishops and clergy whose nominations had earlier been struck from the list.
17. When the prescribed number of nominations of ordained and lay persons from the ecclesiastical province has been achieved, the meeting shall vote by ballot on the youth member nominees. The youth member receiving the greatest number of votes shall be deemed selected. The chairperson shall declare the business concluded and report to the chairperson of the General Synod Nominating Committee.
18. The chairperson of the General Synod Nominating Committee shall report to the General Synod the names of those who have been nominated for the Council of the General Synod by this process, and move the adoption of the report.
NOTE: Paragraph 16 will not apply if the Synod adopts the proposal of the Governance Working Group to amend the Constitution to reduce the size of the Council.