Synodical Government Measure 1969

Changes over time for: Paragraph 39

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[F139](1)Subject to any directions by the General Synod or the Presidents thereof, elections to the House of Laity shall be carried out during the three months immediately following any dissolution of the General Synod and shall be so carried out in each each diocese during such period within the said three months as shall be fixed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.E

(2)The presiding officer in each diocese or each area of a diocese shall be the registrar of the diocese or a person appointed by him [F2with the approval of the registrar of the province], except that, if the said registrar is a candidate in the election, the presiding officer shall be a person appointed by the registrar of the province. The expenses of the elections shall be paid out of diocesan funds.

F3(2A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F4(3)On receipt of the names and addresses of the qualified electors from the diocesan electoral registration officer [F5(which shall, in the case of each elector who has notified the diocesan electoral registration officer that he wishes to receive and send nomination papers and receive election addresses by electronic mail, include the electronic mail address which the elector has authorised for those purposes),] the presiding officer shall ensure that in respect of the election—

(i)those persons are sent or given nomination papers [F6(which, in the case of a person who has authorised the use of an electronic mail address, shall be sent to that address)]; and

(ii)only such persons are sent or given voting papers at the address entered against their names in the register of electors [F7or at some other address notified in writing to the presiding officer by the person concerned before the close of nominations].

The presiding officer shall also send nomination papers to any other person who requests them [F8(and, if the person making the request authorises the use of an electronic mail address, the papers shall be sent to that address)].]

F9(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F9(3A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F9(3B). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F9(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F9(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F9(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F10(4)Every candidate must be nominated and seconded by diocesan electors qualified to vote in the area in which the candidate is seeking to be elected. All nominations shall be in writing, shall include the year of the candidate’s birth [F11and a statement as to whether the candidate [F12has previously served as a member of the House of Laity] and, if so, as to the dates of the candidate’s previous service] and shall be delivered either by post [F13as an attachment to electronic mail,] by facsimile transmission or in person to the presiding officer of the area, together with evidence of the candidate’s consent to serve, within such period, being a period of not less than twenty-eight days [F14ending on such date as may be specified] by the presiding officerF15....

(5)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer—

(a)to scrutinise nomination papers as soon as they have been lodged and he shall, without delay, inform the candidate concerned whether the nomination is valid.Where the nomination is invalid the presiding officer shall give his reasons for so ruling and if, by the close of the nomination period, no valid nomination is received, the candidate shall be excluded from the election;

(b)to supply free of charge to a duly nominated candidate in the election one copy of the names and addresses of the qualified electors [F16(including, if an elector has authorised the use of an electronic mail address, that address)] within seven days of receiving his written request.

(6)If any of the candidates so request the presiding officer shall despatch to every elector election addresses from those candidates being not more than one sheet of A4 paper. [F17One copy of the address] shall be provided by the candidates at their own expense and be delivered [F18or sent by electronic mail] to the presiding officer by such date as he shall determine being not less than seven days after the close of nominations. The presiding officer shall be under no obligation to despatch to electors election addresses which are received after the due date or which are not in the prescribed form.

[F19(6A)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer, before voting papers are issued, to post or cause to be posted on the website of the diocese concerned copies of all election addresses received by the due date in the prescribed form, together with a list of all the candidates.]

(7)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer in any election under these rules to seek to ensure that during the period beginning with the date on which nominations are invited and ending on the last date for the return of voting papers, no papers or other literature except election addresses prepared by the candidates under paragraph 6 of this rule shall be circulated to the electors by him or by or under authority of the diocesan synod or the deanery synod or distributed at a synod meeting which in his opinion are likely to prejudice the election. The rural dean and the lay chairman and secretary of the deanery synod shall also be under a duty to seek to ensure that during the election period no papers or other literature form part of an official circulation or are distributed at a synod meeting which in the opinion of any of them are likely to prejudice the election.

(8)Subject to rule 51, if more candidates are nominated for any area than there are seats to be filled, the election shall be conducted by voting papers by the method of the single transferable vote under rules to be made from time to time as provided by the Standing Orders of the General Synod.Every voting paper, which shall include the year of birth of each candidate [F20and a statement as to whether the candidate is seeking re-election and, if so, as to the dates of the candidate’s previous service], shall be marked and signed on the reverse thereof by the elector and shall be returnable to the presiding officer within such period, being a period of not less than twenty-one days after the date on which the voting paper is issued, as that officer may specify, provided that a voting paper sent by facscimile transmission shall not be counted as a valid vote.

(9)A candidate or a person nominated by him has the right to be present at the counting of the votes in order to scrutinise the count but shall take no part in it. The presiding officer shall give not less than seven days notice in writing to each candidate of the time and place at which the votes are to be counted.

(10)Where within seven days of a count being completed the presiding officer is of the opinion that a recount should take place because of a possible irregularity or inaccuracy in the count, he may, with the concurrence of the registrar of the province, order such a recount and shall give notice in writing to each candidate of the time and place at which the votes are to be recounted.

(11)A full return of the result of any election and of the result sheet shall be sent by the presiding officer within four working days of the declaration of the result to every [F21in the election, the Clerk to the General Synod and an election scrutineer appointed by the Business Committee] of the General Synod. The scrutineer shall have power within ten days of the declaration of the result to order a recount of the voting papers if in his opinion this might be material to the result of the election.

[F22(12)The full return of the result and the result sheet shall, until the end of the first group of sessions of the new Synod—

(a)in the case of an election in a diocese or part of a diocese, be displayed in the diocesan office, posted on the diocese’s website and displayed at the General Synod Office;

(b)in the case of any other election, be displayed at the General Synod Office and posted on the Church of England website.]

[F23[F24(13)]The presiding officer in each area shall ensure that the valid voting papers received by him for the purposes of any election to the House of Laity are preserved for a period of not less than two years beginning with the date of the election.]]

Textual Amendments

F1Sch. 3 rule 39 (originally 33) renumbered (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para. 36.

F2Words inserted by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 20(1).

F3Sch. 3 rule 39 para. (2A) omitted (1.1.1995) by virtue of S.I. 1994/3118, para. 36.

F4Sch. 3 rule 39 para. (3) inserted (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para.36.

F5Words in Sch. 3 rule 39(3) inserted (10.2.2015) by The Church Representation Rules (Amendment) Resolution 2014 (S.I. 2014/2113), paras. 1(3)(a), 5 (with para. 1(4))

F6Words in Sch. 3 rule 39(3)(i) inserted (10.2.2015) by The Church Representation Rules (Amendment) Resolution 2014 (S.I. 2014/2113), paras. 1(3)(a), 6 (with para. 1(4))

F7Words in Sch. 3 rule 39(3)(ii) inserted (10.2.2015) by The Church Representation Rules (Amendment) Resolution 2014 (S.I. 2014/2113), paras. 1(3)(a), 7 (with para. 1(4))

F8Words in Sch. 3 rule 39(3) inserted (10.2.2015) by The Church Representation Rules (Amendment) Resolution 2014 (S.I. 2014/2113), paras. 1(3)(a), 8 (with para. 1(4))

F9Sch. 3 rule 39 paras. (3)-(6B) expressed to be omitted (1.1.1995) by virtue of S.I. 1994/3118, para. 37.

F10Sch. 3 rule 39 paras. (4)-(12) inserted (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para. 37.

F11Words in Sch. 3 rule 39(4) inserted (15.2.2005) by The Church Representation Rules (Amendment) Resolution 2004 (S.I. 2004/1889), paras. 14(a), 19(3)(c)