1. Using the list of clergy eligible to be delegates, select the names of people for whom you wish to vote.
2. Next to each name is a unique number which identifies that person. Make a list of the numbers corresponding to the persons for whom you wish to vote.
3. Using the clergy ballot provided, fill the top boxes of each “Selection” with the identification number for each eligible person you have chosen. After you fill in the numbers at the top of a selection, darken the boxes below with the number that corresponds to the number you wrote at the top. These lower boxes are the part of the ballot that the computer will actually read. Be sure the box is completely filled. You may use either pen or pencil to complete the ballot. Note: The number of selections printed on each ballot will equal the number of people you may vote for on that ballot. If you do not complete all the selections, the ballot will be invalid and won't be counted. If you vote for the same person more than once on the same ballot, or vote for someone already elected, your ballot is also invalid.
4. If you make a mistake and need a new ballot, please tear your ballot in two and give the pieces to the teller in your section. The teller will then give you a new ballot. DO NOT cross out mistakes or erase.
At the 2011 North Georgia Annual Conference in Athens Georgia, June 14-17, 2011, the lay members to annual conference will elect thirteen (13) lay delegates to the 2012 General Conference and an additional thirteen (13) lay delegates to the 2012 Southeast Jurisdictional Conference plus five (5) alternates. Reserve delegates to General Conference will be those elected delegates and reserves to Jurisdictional Conference in order of election. Any person meeting the qualifications as provided in 2008 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 36 is eligible for election.
The 2011 Lay Candidate Handbook has been published and distributed at the district pre-conference briefing as a part of this 2011 Conference Handbook. The names of these registered candidates will be printed on the first ballot. Bishop Mike Watson, presiding over the opening session, will instruct the laity on the balloting procedure prior to each ballot.
The first ballot for election of lay delegates will be taken at the Opening Business Session on Tuesday afternoon, June 14, 2011, immediately following the Opening Worship Service. Subsequent ballots will be taken throughout all business sessions.
Members to annual conference will be identified by name badge issued at Laity Registration. Only members to annual conference wearing designated voter name badge may be seated in the bar of the conference where ballots are distributed and collected by official tellers.
The Lay Election Committee encourages the lay voters to review the SAMPLE Lay Election Ballot found in this handbook prior to the Opening Business Session. The Official ballot will have the names of the candidates printed beside the boxes on the upper portion of the ballot and the number of candidates to be elected on the specific ballot. (The first ballot will require voters to select 13 candidates by darkening the boxes beside the names of 13 candidates in order to cast a valid ballot.) The total number of boxes to be darkened will always be notated in the middle portion of the ballot.
After the first ballot, if a member desires to cast a vote for a person not listed as a registered candidate whose name is not beside the boxes on the ballot, the voter will write the name of the person next to a box in the “write in” lower portion of the ballot and then darken the box on the ballot adjacent to the write-in name. After darkening the boxes (including the write-in name if applicable), check the ballot to make sure the correct number of boxes are darkened (no more/no less than the number indicated on the ballot), the ballot is collected by the official teller.
Please do not erase or make any marks on the ballot except for darkening the boxes for the person beside the persons which you wish to vote. If you make a mistake in marking your ballot, tear the ballot in two pieces and give to an official teller for your area who will provide you with another ballot.