Bishop Election Procedure-S9.04
Information provided in the mailed packet to congregations
from the Bishop's Election Task Force

The bishop shall be elected by the Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot.

First ballot is nominating ballot, unless one person gets three-fourths of the legal votes cast. After the first ballot the names on the first ballot will be posted and anyone whose name has been nominated then has the right to withdraw their name from further consideration.

Second ballot will include the remainder of the names and three-fourths of the legal votes cast are necessary for election. If no election it moves to a third ballot.

Third ballot will be limited to seven (7) persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the 2 nd ballot, and 2/3 of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election.

Fourth ballot will be limited to the three (3) persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the 3 rd ballot, and 60% of the legal votes cast are necessary for election.

Fifth ballot and beyond will be limited to two (2) persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the 4 th ballot, and majority of the legal votes cast are necessary for election.

Prior to the 3rd, 4th & 5th ballot, those that will be on the ballot will make a presentation to the assembly. The exact format of the presentation has not yet been planned.

ELECTING A BISHOP FOR THE OREGON SYNOD
ELCA Definition of the Ecclesiastical Ballot

In response to requests from synods for a definition of the ecclesiastical ballot and guidance on the use of such a ballot, the Church Council adopted the following definition in 1994:

To define an “ecclesiastical ballot” for the election of a bishop in synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as an election process:

1. In which on the first ballot the name of any eligible individual may be submitted for nomination by a voting member of the assembly;
2. Through which the possibility of election to office exists on any ballot by achievement of the required number of votes cast by voting members of the assembly applicable to a particular ballot;
3. That precludes spoken floor nominations;
4. In which the first ballot is the nominating ballot if no election occurs on the first ballot;
5. In which the first ballot defines the total slate of nominees for possible election on a subsequent ballot, with no additional nominations permitted;
6. That does not preclude, after the reporting of the first ballot, the right of persons nominated to withdraw their names prior to the casting of the second ballot;
7. In which any name appearing on the second ballot may not be subsequently withdrawn;
8. That does not preclude an assembly’s adoption of rules that permit, at a defined point in the election process and for a defined period of time, speeches to the assembly by nominees or their representatives and/or a question-and-answer forum in which the nominees or their representatives participate; and
9. In which the number of names that appear on any ballot subsequent to the second ballot shall be determined in accordance with provisions of the governing documents (or, if the governing documents are silent, in accordance with rules adopted by the assembly).