Resolution D:
Special Rules for the Electing Convention
of the Ninth Bishop of California

 

Status

The 174th Convention adopted this resolution in the form below on October 28th, 2023. The Standing Committee will move  amendments to Special Rule #9 and Rule 4.7 at the Special Convention on December 2nd to bring the rules into conformity with the Constitution and current voting practice of the Convention.

Resolved, that the Convention adopt the following Special Rules for the Electing Convention of the Ninth Bishop of the Diocese:

1. Location, Time, and Business of the Special Convention. A Special Convention of the Diocese of California will convene at Grace Cathedral on December 2nd, 2023, at 9:00 AM PST to elect the Ninth Bishop of California as Bishop Coadjutor. No other business will be in order.
2.  Officers of the Special Convention. The officers of the Special Convention will be the officers of the Convention elected at the Annual Convention of the Diocese of California on October 27-28, 2023.
3. In Person Only. In accordance with the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of California, only members of the Convention attending in person will be eligible to vote in the Special Convention. There will be no provision for proxy or remote voting.
4. Lay Delegates eligible to vote at the Special Convention. Lay delegates eligible to vote at the Special Convention and their alternates will be those duly elected according to the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of California and the bylaws of the electing congregations. Unless changes are duly reported between the Annual and Special Conventions, delegates and alternates for the Annual Convention will be the same delegates and alternates for the Special Convention. Any congregation, Vestry, or Bishop’s Committee electing new delegates or alternates between the Annual and Special Conventions must report the names of their new delegates and alternates to the Secretary of the Convention no later than 30 days prior to the Special Convention, November 2, 2023. Up to and during the Special Convention, clerics in charge of congregations may replace any absent delegate with a duly elected alternate by submitting the change via email to the Secretary of the Convention. If there is no cleric in charge of a congregation, a warden, secretary, or clerk of the congregation may petition the Bishop, up to and during the Special Convention, to replace any absent delegate with a duly elected alternate by submitting the petition via email to the Secretary of the Convention. The Committee on Credentials must certify the replacement before any alternate is registered, seated, and eligible to vote as a delegate.
5.  Clergy eligible to vote at the Special Convention. Clergy eligible to vote at the Special Convention will be determined according to the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of California. No more than 60 and no less than 30 calendar days before the Special Convention, November 2, 2023, the Bishop will provide to the Secretary of the Convention and to the Standing Committee the list of clergy eligible to vote.
6. Quorum. A quorum for the Special Convention to elect a bishop requires a majority of all clergy eligible to vote and at least two-thirds of all congregations represented by at least one lay delegate. The Committee on Credentials will certify the presence of a quorum at the opening of the Special Convention.
7. Nominations. Nominations for election as Bishop Coadjutor will be made by the Diocese’s Bishop Search and Transition Committee, which will nominate the candidates identified by the search process and approved by the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee will nominate any candidates identified by the petition process who are qualified under the standards established by the Bishop Search and Transition Committee and approved by the Standing Committee. Nominations will then be closed. Nominations from the floor will not be in order. 
8.  Ballot Preparation. The Standing Committee will prepare the ballot, combining nominees submitted by the Diocese’s Search and Transition Committee and nominees by petition presented together as the slate of nominees as of October 27, 2023. The order of names on the ballot will be determined by lot without distinguishing between search committee nominees and petition nominees.
9. Election Requirements. Each vote will be taken by orders, clergy and lay, and an election will require a concurrent majority of those present and voting in each order as required by Section 12.3 of the Constitution. The Committee on Credentials will report the number of members present in each order before the first ballot. For each ballot cast, the number of members present in each order will be deemed equal to the number of ballots submitted, including all valid ballots for nominees, all blank ballots, and any ballots marked “none of the above.”
10. Voting Process. The election of the bishop will be conducted by electronic ballot and will conform to the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of California. The Secretary of the Convention will prepare paper ballots as a backup in the event the electronic ballot system fails at any time during the Convention. At the conclusion of each vote, if there is no election, the Convention will receive new ballots and vote again until the Convention elects or adjourns under these rules.
11. Procedure for Certification of Votes. The Standing Committee will establish procedures for certifying the outcome of each vote and will supervise the counting and certification as necessary. The Secretary of the Standing Committee will report the certified results of each vote to the Secretary of the Convention.
12. Nominee Withdrawal. Except as provided in these rules, all nominees will remain on the ballot for each vote. A nominee may withdraw at any time. A withdrawal must be submitted in writing to the President of the Standing Committee, either in person or by email. Once a nominee has withdrawn, that name may not be reentered on the ballot.
13. Extension of the Special Convention. If the Special Convention does not elect a Bishop Coadjutor by 6:00 PM, December 2, 2023, the Convention will adjourn until 2:00 PM on the afternoon of Sunday, December 3, 2023, unless the Convention, by a two-thirds vote, sets a different time for adjournment.
14. Failure to Elect. If the Special Convention does not elect a Bishop Coadjutor by the end of December 3, 2023, and unless the Convention, by a two-thirds vote, sets another date and time to continue the election, the Convention will adjourn sine die, and there will be no election.
15. Signing the Attestation of a Due and Lawful Election. Immediately following the final ballot, and provided that a Bishop Coadjutor is elected, while the Special Convention remains in session, the President of the Convention will arrange to gather the signatures of a constitutional majority of the Convention attesting to the due and lawful election of the Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of California. 

Proposed to the Special Convention on December 2nd to amend Rule 7.6 from the Rules of Order for the Convention of the Diocese of California:

7.6 The Committee on Elections may, with the consent of the President and Secretary, employ automated vote-counting equipment to canvass the ballots. No voting machine or electronic voting system shall be employed which does not use individual physical ballots marked personally by the members of Convention. The Secretary shall provide the tellers with vote result forms in lieu of tally sheets, and the tellers shall transcribe the results displayed or printed by the equipment to the vote result forms. At least three tellers shall observe and verify the transcription of each result. If the equipment provides a printed result, it shall be attached to the vote result form.

 Notes:

For reference and comparison, see the Rules for the Electing Convention in the Journal of the 156th Convention of the Diocese of California p. 35-38

Special note for the Electing Convention:

Amended language (additions in bold italic text and deletions crossed out ) will be proposed by the Standing Committee to the Special Convention on Saturday, December 2nd. These changes bring the Special Rules into full conformity with Article XII of the Constitution, clarify voting procedures, and update the standing rules of the Convention to reflect current voting practices using VPOLL.