Synod Bishop Election Process

S9.04. in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod Constitution states:
The bishop shall be elected by the Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election on the first ballot. If no one is elected, the first ballot shall be considered the nominating ballot. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast on the second ballot shall be necessary for election. The third ballot shall be limited to the seven persons (plus ties) who received the greatest number of legal votes on the second ballot, and two-thirds of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. The fourth ballot shall be limited to the three persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the third ballot, and 60 percent of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. On subsequent ballots a majority of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. These ballots shall be limited to the two persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the previous ballot.

In 1994, the ELCA Church Council adopted the following definition:
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 in which any name appearing on the second ballot may not be subsequently withdrawn;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 the provisions of the governing documents (or, if the governing documents are silent, in accordance with rules adopted by the assembly)

The Indiana-Kentucky Synod’s bishop election process will begin with an ecclesiastical ballot during the first plenary session on Thursday, June 9, 2016. According to †S08.11, “The bishop shall be a pastor who is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.”

All voting member must be checked-in or registered at least thirty (30) minutes before any ballot for the bishop’s election in order to participate in that ballot. Assembly registration will close thirty (30) minutes prior to each ballot for bishop, to allow the Committee on Registration and Attendance adequate time to verify the number of eligible voting members.
Guidelines for Synod Bishop Elections, Rev. Walter S. May and Rev. Wm Chris Boerger, January 2016. p. 2-3.