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Resolution R-4: Rules of Order

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1. These Rules of Order are for the Annual or Special Convention of the Diocese of Lexington.  These Rules accede to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and of the Diocese of Lexington (collectively, “the canons”).  Except where inconsistent with the canons or these Rules, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, the latest edition, shall govern the business proceedings of the Convention.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Convention may, by unanimous consent, take any action not inconsistent with the canons.

2. Resolutions to be acted on at the annual Convention shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Convention on or before the 14^th day preceding the opening date of the Convention.

   1. Upon submission, resolutions shall be referred to the appropriate Convention Committee as determined by the Bishop, and the texts thereof shall be included in the advance materials distributed by the Secretary of the Convention to the members of the Convention prior to the Convention.  Resolutions submitted to the Secretary later than specified shall be returned to the introducer without action. 

      Resolutions may be introduced during the Convention but may be acted upon only as follows:  If introduced in the first business session of the Convention, the question before the Convention shall be whether the resolution shall be considered.  Upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the delegates, the resolution shall be referred to an appropriate Convention Committee for study and report to that Convention.  Such resolutions that fail to receive the required vote, as well as resolutions introduced after the close of the first business session of the Convention, shall not be considered

      This rule shall not apply to resolutions of courtesy.

   2. Any portions of the Bishop’s address meriting the Convention’s response shall be referred by the Diocesan Bishop to an appropriate Convention Committee.

   3. If a resolution submitted for Convention action would require adoption or amendment of a rule of order, canon or constitution provision, the presiding officer of the Convention, at the time the resolution is referred to an appropriate Convention Committee, (a) shall request the Canonical Commission on Constitution and Canons to consider the measure and prepare whatever rule, canonical or constitution provision would be suitable to accomplish the resolution’s proposal and, if the resolution receives favorable Convention action, report the rule, canonical or constitution provision for Convention consideration.

3. Every Resolution shall be sponsored by a Member who shall be present at Convention and prepared to move and speak in its favor.

4. Every Resolution whose adoption may foreseeably result in cost or expense to the Diocese shall be accompanied by an estimate of the amount of such cost or expense and a suggestion of possible sources of funding.

5. All Resolutions shall be distributed or read to the Convention prior to consideration. A Resolution not included in the order of business, and not germane to a committee report or other pending item of business, shall be considered at the time indicated in the order of business for other new business, or at a time determined by the President.

6. A report to Convention of a committee or other body shall be in writing and, once submitted to the Secretary, shall be deemed received by the Convention without the necessity of a motion.  The President may, but need not, call for an oral reading or summary of the report, but shall at least publish or make known the filing of the report.  Any report calling for Convention action or opinion shall be accompanied by a proposed Resolution.

7. Questions of order shall be decided without debate by the President or, at the President’s direction, by the Parliamentarian, subject to an appeal of the ruling upon motion.

8. After first stating his or her name and congregational or other affiliation, a Member addressing the Convention shall direct all remarks to the President and confine such remarks to the question on the floor.  No Member shall speak more than twice on the same pending matter without leave of the President, nor, in the absence of such leave, for more than 3 minutes at a time.  Once debate on any matter has taken 15 minutes, the President may end the debate or specify a time period for limited further debate, subject to the Convention’s power to extend or limit debate upon motion supported by a two-thirds majority.

9. After the making and seconding of a main motion, and before the question is called, the following subsidiary motions (among others) are in order: motion to amend; motion to refer; motion to postpone to a definite time; and motion to postpone indefinitely. A “motion to table,” unless specified to be the emergency motion to lay on the table, shall be construed as a motion to postpone indefinitely.

10. Except where otherwise provided by canon, by these Rules, or by Robert’s Rules, a simple majority will carry a question.  The Convention shall ordinarily vote by voice, with the President announcing the result of the vote; except that, at the discretion of the President or at the request of any two Members, the Convention shall vote by a show of hands, cards or by a rising vote.

11. Neither absentee voting nor proxy voting is recognized.  Only Members present in person and voting in the affirmative or negative on a particular question shall be counted for that vote, and only such persons shall be included in the denominator used to calculate the percentage of support for the question.  Abstentions shall not be counted or recorded except at the request of the President or on motion approved by the Convention.  With the permission of the President, brief statements of absent Members in support of or in opposition to a question may be read or quoted by another Member.

12. Once an issue has been determined, it shall stand as the decision of the Convention and not again be drawn into debate except upon a motion for reconsideration made by a Member who previously voted on the prevailing side.  Only one motion for reconsideration of a particular earlier question shall be permitted.  Any Resolution passed by Convention will be attached to the minutes that are distributed to deputies at the next convention.

13. A Member may not, in one speaking, both debate a question and call the question for a vote.  A Member may, in one speaking, both debate the question and call for a vote by Orders.  A vote by Orders must be called for prior to the close of debate on the question and must be supported by at least five members of the Clergy or five delegations deputies, in which event it shall be required.

14. If a Member making or supporting a non-debatable motion speaks in favor of that motion, or provides an explanation or reasons that tend to support the motion, the motion becomes debatable if so determined by the President, who shall, in that event, specify such special limits on the debate as the President deems advisable.

15. When a motion for the previous question covers more than one pending question, the vote will ordinarily cover all pending questions; however, upon the request of any Member or the President to divide the question, separate votes will be taken as to each previous question, such votes to be taken in the order in which the questions are pending (i.e., the reverse order in which the motions were made).

16. The rules relating to elections at Annual or Special Convention of the Diocese of Lexington are:

    1. Prior to the Convention, the Secretary, or such other person as may be designated by the Secretary, shall prepare official ballots for use at all elections at the ensuing Convention.

    2. After Convention is organized, the Bishop shall appoint a Chief Teller who shall have the authority to appoint as many Assistant Tellers as are necessary to carry out the balloting process.  The Chief Teller shall be responsible to see that the ballots are distributed to those delegates entitled to vote on all elections.

    3. After nominations are made and the Bishop calls for election, the Chief Teller Chair of the Nominating Committee shall then present to the Convention those persons nominated along with instructions as to the completion of ballots and shall, with the Assistant Tellers,.  The Chief Teller shall be responsible to collect all completed ballots and retire to tabulate the results.

    4. When the results are available, the Chief Teller shall make such fact known to the Bishop who shall, in the proper order of business, call for a report from the Tellers who shall then report to the Convention results of an election, distributing written results to the Bishop and to the Secretary.

    5. Ballots that are incomplete or unintelligible, as determined by the Chief Teller, shall be determined to be spoiled ballots and shall not be counted.  A ballot will be considered incomplete if the voter does not cast as many votes as there are vacancies to be filled in the election.  For example, if there are four people to be elected from a ballot of 15 people, the voter must vote for four.

    6. Each nomination, whether by voice from the floor or in writing, shall be accompanied by a brief biography of the nominee on a form prepared for that purpose and made available by the Secretary of the Convention to all delegates who are properly certified to the Secretary.  The information to be included on the biographical form, which must be signed by the nominator, shall include at least the following: nominee’s name, address, home congregation, occupation, and prior and current parochial and diocesan offices.

17. The following voting procedures will be applicable to election of deputies to General Convention only.

    1. In order to be elected as a deputy to General Convention, a nominee must receive a simple majority of all those voting in the election.  When more than one position is to be filled, then a nominee is considered elected if he or she receives votes from a majority of those voting.

    2. In the event the initial vote on a slate of nominees shall not fill all the vacancies requiring election, then:

       1. the nominees who shall have been properly elected shall be declared elected and eliminated from the ballot; and

       2. there shall then be determined the number of remaining vacancies for which a nominee is to be elected; and

       3. the remaining unelected nominees shall then be ranked by the Chief Teller in the order of the votes cast for each nominee; and

       4. the Chief Teller shall then eliminate those nominees receiving the least number of votes cast so as to leave remaining two (2) nominees for each remaining unfilled position.  However, in the event any other nominee shall receive a sum of votes within one percent (1%) of the total votes cast for those nominees selected for run-off, then those nominees shall also be placed on the run-off slate; and

       5. the Chief Teller shall then present to the Convention the names of the nominees for the run-off slate, in alphabetical order, upon whom the votes shall be cast.  In the event a second vote shall not fill all remaining positions, then the procedure will be repeated, but without compliance with the 1% rule.

Submitted by:
The Rev. Robert L. Sessum
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Lexington, Kentucky