GS 2019 Article 39 – Voting

The chairman presented the following as a ruling of the chair in relation to voting:

A delegate should abstain if:

• 1. a matter particularly involves his person or his church (CO Art. 32);
• 2. a matter pertains to the Board of Governors and he is a member of the Board (on account of his legal context);
• 3. a matter pertains to the Standing Committee for the Book of Praise and he is a member of the Committee (on account of his legal context);

A delegate has freedom to vote or abstain but is encouraged to keep the spirit of CO Art. 32 in mind when:

• 4. he was a member of a minor assembly which previously decided regarding a matter being appealed;

A delegate has freedom to vote even though:

• 5. he was a member of a committee reporting to synod (e.g. CRCA, CNSF). A simple majority constitutes more than half of the votes cast, not counting the abstentions.