With Barbara A. Below
Get out the vote!
Every local, state and federal election campaign has a real push to “get out the vote” for every possible eligible voter to participate in the election.
Like these types of elections, we are asking everyone to know and understand the important upcoming events related to the election of the president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Please carefully read about this process and share the information with anyone who is a voter for the election of the president.
A review of information in the April Reporter about the presidential-election process is in order.
Voters for the presidential election are usually not the same as the delegates who will be attending the Synod convention in St. Louis this July. Those who are voting for the president are the delegates in attendance at the 2012 district conventions. The Synod’s presidential election will take place before the national convention. The nominees and their biographical sketches are available at lcms.org/convention/nominees#president.
Here are a few important elements and dates to keep in mind regarding the election process for Synod president:
April 30 — A postcard will be sent to all voters informing them of the details of the voting procedure.
Throughout May — Work continues with Election-America (the company conducting the balloting) to confirm email addresses and develop notification materials and the online-voting site.
May 15 — Nominees’ biographical information and answers to questions will be available online at the above Web page. The June print Reporter and the June-July edition of The Lutheran Witness also will include summaries of the biographical information, as well as questions and answers.
May 20 — An email will be sent to the voters, showing screen shots of the Internet site that will be used for the voting.
June 10 — Election-America mails (via U.S. mail) a notification packet to all voters for the presidential election. The packet will include information required for participation in the vote and information regarding the three nominees. The material also will be emailed to these voters.
June 22 — Election opens and remains open until midnight June 25.
June 26 — Election-America reports presidential-election results to the secretary of the Synod. If another vote is needed, district presidents will be notified and, with the help of circuit counselors, alert voters of the need for a second ballot.
June 29 — If needed, a second vote takes place, with balloting continuing until midnight July 2.
July 5 — The secretary of the Synod notifies nominees of the election results, and then provides the information to the public.
July 20 — LCMS convention begins.
Throughout the entire presidential-election process, it will be very important for district presidents and circuit counselors to be available to contact and encourage all district-convention delegates to participate in the voting process that will take place between June 22 and July 2. It also is important that every voter receives his or her election-information packet in June via email and postal mail, understands the voting instructions, is able to access the Internet and is aware of how to move through the pages of the voting site to cast his or her vote for LCMS president.
Our desire is that 100 percent of the eligible voters for the presidential election cast their votes during the election. We ask your help to get out the vote!
To learn more about the 2013 convention via social media, visit facebook.com/LCMSConvention and twitter.com/LCMSConvention.
Barbara A. Below is an assistant to the Synod president.
