LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 183

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
presidents must be signed by the president and secretary of the
congregation submitting the nomination. This process was added
to the Bylaws following the 2010 convention of the Synod, which
adopted several resolutions. Res. 8-14A resolved that vice-presidents two through six be elected regionally and added Bylaw
3.12.1, which described how the regions were to be formed. Res.
8-16A specified that there were to be five regional lay members of
the Board of Directors. Res. 8-08A established a Board for National Mission (BNM) and a Board for International Mission (BIM),
also with regional membership. Res. 8-08A also adopted 2010 Bylaw 3.12.2.5 (TB 305–6, today numbered 3.12.2.7), establishing the
process by which all regional nominations and elections were to be
done. 2010 Bylaw 3.12.2.5 (b) required that all nominations were
to be signed by the president and secretary of the nominating congregation and submitted to the Secretary of the Synod.
The 2010 Synod convention also adopted Res. 4-07, which made
a large number of bylaw changes pertaining to the preparations for
conventions of the Synod. One of these bylaw changes altered how
the President and all vice-presidents of the Synod were to be nominated. The 2010 change to then-Bylaw 3.12.1 eliminated the requirement of 3.12.1 (b) that all nominating ballots be signed by the
president and secretary of the nominating congregation, replacing it
instead with a provision directing the Secretary of the Synod to provide “a secure and verifiable method that will offer opportunity
to every congregation of the Synod to submit nominations.” This
change was not, however, incorporated into the 2010 Handbook
with regard to the nomination of regional vice-presidents.
Rather, probably because of a desire to keep the manner of nominations for all regional positions consistent, 2010 Bylaw 3.12.2.3
(b), as incorporated into the 2010 Handbook, followed the process
adopted in Res. 8-08A, continuing to require the signature of the
president and secretary of each nominating congregation to sign the
form and submit it to the Secretary of the Synod.
The 2016 Synod convention adopted Res. 11-05, which changed
the manner of nominating the regional members of the Board of
Directors and the elected members of the BNM and the BIM (all of
which are regional). In this new process, nominations were no longer limited to congregations, but followed the process for all other
nominations received by the Committee for Convention Nominations. The stipulation requiring signatures from the chairman and
secretary of a nominating congregation was removed. Res. 11-05
did not address the manner of nomination for regional vice-presidents.
Since the procedure for nomination by the congregations today
applies only to the offices of President of the Synod, First VicePresident, and the five regional vice-presidents, it is the opinion of
the commission that Res. 4-07, adopted by the 2010 convention,
can be followed in its original intention to allow the Secretary of
the Synod to provide “a secure and verifiable method that will offer
opportunity to every congregation of the Synod to submit nominations,” not only for the President of the Synod and the First VicePresident, but also for the five regional vice-presidents, without
requiring the signature of the president and secretary of nominating
congregations.
Question A.2: Is the use of a reliable, impartial election contractor
to facilitate these nomination processes to be precluded either by the language limiting external tabulation help to an “auditing firm,” or the language, in
the regional process, requiring ballots to be received
by the Secretary of the Synod?

183

Opinion: Bylaw 3.12.2 (d) uses the term may in reference to the
engaging of an external auditing firm to tabulate the nominations.
The term may would allow the process to be handled in-house by
the Secretary of the Synod, should he so choose, or by an external
tabulator. Since 2010 Res. 4-07 was intended to apply to the election of the President of the Synod, the First Vice-President, and the
five regional vice-presidents, the application of this process to the
nomination of the regional vice-presidents would allow the Secretary to use a reliable outside resource to tabulate the nominations
and also certify these results, should the Secretary of the Synod so
decide. This is also comprehended within the sense of his provision
of a “secure and verifiable method” using “assistance necessary to
accomplish this task.”
Question A.3: Could the requirement that regional nominations be
“signed by the president and secretary of the nominating congregation” be implemented in some electronic fashion, rather than physically, on an official
ballot? (In asking this question, it is noted that there
is no ability at the Synod level to verify the signatures currently submitted, and that the security and
verifiability of the process presently relates to identifying valid, original physical ballots and keeping
records as to which congregations have cast their
votes, to prevent duplication or third-party submission. An electronic process could be “verified”
more thoroughly, for example, by emailing congregational officers when the congregation’s nominating ballot has been cast, to alert them to any potential unauthorized use.)
Opinion: Bylaw 3.12.2 (b) directs the Secretary of the Synod to
provide a secure and verifiable method that will offer opportunity
to every congregation of the Synod to submit nominations. The
Bylaw does not stipulate what this secure and verifiable method
might be. This same process may be used for the nominations of
the regional vice-presidents. See the answer to Question 1A.
B. Registration of Presidential Voters
Bylaw 3.12.2.3 governs the registration of presidential voters by
the congregations-and-parishes (Pfarrgemeinden) of the Synod.
This process involves the collection of name, address, email address, phone, and a “security question” for the pastoral and lay
voters to be registered. Handwriting of this information on a form
and subsequent data entry have proven very error-prone and timeconsuming. The especially important email address has been a
challenge. Improperly completed or signed forms take a long time
to detect and correct, with the consequence that some congregations have difficulty completing the process in time. An electronic
process would reduce the administrative burden and significantly
increase assurance, as well as allowing more timely and accurate
reminders to congregations that have not yet registered. Bylaw
3.12.2.3, created by 2010 Res. 8-17 (Proc. 167; TB 304–5), as
modified in 2016 and 2019, reads:
3.12.2.3

The Secretary of the Synod, using lists of delegates
in attendance at the prior year’s district conventions
as submitted by the secretaries of the districts, shall
compile and maintain the voters list for the election
of the President of the Synod in coordination with the
secretaries of the districts. This list and any of its parts
shall not be disseminated.
2023 Convention Workbook