LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — February 13, 2016, Page 2

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nominations ballots for six positions, there are no positions on regional boards with sufficient nominees
with multiple nominations to fill a slate of five. In all cases, to fill out the slate of five with all remaining
nominees, counting them as a tie, would include potentially dozens of nominees for many elective
positions. For one position, for example, only one nominee has multiple nominations and a dozen other
individuals received single nominations. In other cases, two or three nominees have multiple nominations
and ten to thirty have single ones. It is not feasible for the Secretary to contact between ten and thirty
candidates for each position and determine their willingness to serve in the time frame allotted, also
incorporating all their biographical material into the preconvention mailings. Likewise, accommodating
initial ballots of possibly ten to thirty candidates at the convention seems not in keeping with either the
spirit of the Bylaws, which call for ballots of five, or with the normal process of elections. The
historically applied solution, most readily inferred from Bylaw 3.12.2.1(b), of including all nominees tied
for the last slot on the ballot simply will not work. The current Bylaws are inadequate, providing no other
explicit or readily inferred remedy.
The commission notes that this is an area for serious consideration that should be addressed by the
Commission on Handbook (or by one of the boards having regional elections) before the upcoming
convention so that this serious discrepancy between the requirements of the Bylaws for regional elections
and the reality of congregational participation in the process specified might be corrected for future
convention cycles.
An immediate solution, however, is required. On encountering this conundrum, the Secretary of the
Synod consulted immediately with the commission to determine a course of action that was both feasible
and best in keeping with the spirit of Bylaw 3.12.2.7—that is, that the convention would be provided with
a reasonable slate of candidates, whose selection would respect the principles of truly regional
nomination. Although extremely reticent to do so, the commission has agreed that the Bylaws present an
unworkable process and also that the following is the best available emergency remedy until a workable
process can be specified in the Bylaws by a convention.
For each of the positions of a respective board, the Secretary will, as necessary, contact those nominees
with the most nominations to obtain their consent to serve, beginning with the nominee(s) who received
the most nominations and working downward. Those who consent to serve will be placed on the ballot.
Whenever more than one person has received the next-highest number of nominating votes for a next or
final position on the ballot, the Secretary will then use an audited blind draw as specified in the Bylaw
section 1.10 Standard Operating Procedures Manual1 for dispute resolution to establish the sequence by
which he will contact the multiple individuals. Following that sequence, the Secretary will contact those
individuals for their consent to serve, and, having received their consent, place them on the ballot until
five names appear on the ballot. After five names are on the ballot, no more individuals will be contacted
for that particular regional position. In the event that the Secretary is unable to receive consent to serve
from five individuals, the ballot for that regional board position will be presented to the convention with
the number of individuals who have consented to serve.
The Secretary will obtain the biographical information for these nominees and list them, as
indistinguishable from the others, in the pre-convention materials. The list of remaining (excess)
nominees shall be preserved in the sequence established by the blind draw, in case the withdrawal or
unavailability of a candidate should require a replacement to be selected, which would be carried out
according to the same process.
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1

“To accomplish a blind draw, such method must be used as will accomplish a truly “blind” draw, to be carried out in the
presence of at least two (2) office staff or other neutral persons. A statement attesting to the blind draw must be prepared, signed,
and dated by the witnesses and included in the record of the case. Names are to be used by the administrator in the order in which
they were surfaced by the blind draw.” (1.10 dispute resolution process Standard Operating Procedure Manual, p. 9)

CCM Minutes – February 22, 2016 – Page 113