Disaffiliation Vote - Online Voting Registration

ONLINE VOTING ONLY! DO NOT REGISTER IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO VOTE IN-PERSON

Online Voting Procedures

Vote Regarding Disaffiliation from the Mountain Sky Conference (MSC) of the United Methodist Church (UMC) at 11:30 AM on February 26, 2023

The following procedures have been prescribed by the District Superintendent (DS) Rev. Tezenlo Thong, and the MSC.

Please do not take advantage of online voting If you are able to attend in-person.

Online voting is primarily intended for members who are traveling, homebound, working, or live outside of the Tri-Lakes Area. We are limited to fewer than 100 screens on Zoom. Couples and families sharing a device will only count as 1 screen. 

Prior to 12:00 PM (MT) on Saturday, February 25th, 2023

• To vote online using Zoom you must register in advance at tlumc.org/registration.This allows us to plan appropriately and only share the Zoom link with professing members of TLUMC. You must register by 12:00 PM (MT) on Saturday, February 25th. Late registrations will not be accepted.
• The TLUMC Director of Communications will provide an instructional video to demonstrate how to use Zoom for online voting. This video will cover skills such as muting/unmuting, turning your camera on/off, identifying/naming yourself properly, and casting your vote using a private chat message.
• The TLUMC Director of Communications will host two practice sessions for online voters who are uncomfortable using Zoom. These sessions will be an opportunity to test all functions of an individual’s device and work out any issues before the day of the vote. Practice sessions will be held on: Thursday, February 23rdat 10:00 AM (MT) and 7:00 PM (MT). A one-time link to this practice session will be emailed out to all who register. Do not use this link on the day of the vote.

Sunday, February 26th, 2023

• Thong and Rev. Jeff Rainwater will preside in the Sanctuary over the special called Church Conference and vote following the 10:00 AM (MT) service. A new one-time Zoom link will be emailed out to all who registered approximately 30 minutes before the beginning of the Conference. Plan to be online and ready to begin the Conference at 11:30 AM (MT).
• For each member attending online TLUMC will have two members attending in person (unrelated to one another or the online attendee, if possible) sign next to the online attendee’s name, certifying the identity of the online attendee. The DS shall initial next to each online attendee’s name, certifying the member’s online attendance for the MSC.
• When it comes time to vote, the ballot language will be shared with all members voting online on Zoom. the ballot language from paragraph 2553 of the UMC Book of Discipline is shown on the reverse side of this sheet.
• Members in attendance who are under the age of 18 shall have a notation made next to their name on the membership list noting their age on the day of the vote, as well as a notation on their written ballot. The MSC has requested this notation be made for legal purposes.
• Online attendees shall vote using the chat feature of Zoom. To preserve confidentiality, each online attendee shall address a private chat message to a Zoom participant designated by the DS and only visible on a DS-controlled computer, not to “everyone.” Important: in order to disaffiliate, two-thirds (66.667%) of the ballots submitted must vote YES/FOR.As a result, a vote of ABSTAIN is counted the same as a vote of NO/AGAINST.
• The Church Council Chair David Blanks and the DS will be the only two persons to see online attendees’ votes. The monitor of this DS-controlled computer will not be visible to anyone else unless technical assistance is required.
• These votes shall be recorded together on a copy of the ballot used to tally online votes.
• Each online attendee for whom a vote is tallied shall be checked off the signed membership list by the DS, with the total checked off verified to match the total tallied online votes.
• After submitting their vote online, members are free to leave the Zoom call or remain to hear the final result. A last call for voting will be made by the DS before beginning the tally. No ballots will be accepted after the DS declares the ballot closed. The tally and the percentages will be announced to those who remain. TLUMC Communications will immediately send an email to the congregational list announcing the results as well.

Immediately following collection of all ballots, including votes collected via Zoom, the ballots will be counted in the conference room by the DS and Church Council Chair David Blanks.  A representative of Stay TLUMC and Friends of Tri-Lakes will observe the count. The final tally will be matched to the total number of members who signed in exchange for a ballot. If you don’t intend to vote, please don’t sign for a ballot.

Any disputes or disagreements in any of these procedures will be resolved by the DS, Church Council Chair David Blanks, and Lay Leader Jen Filla.

The ballot will read as follows

Check here if you are under the age of 18 today    _______.

At a specially called Church Conference on this 26th day of February, 2023, I hereby vote for Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church to disaffiliate from the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church, “for reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals as resolved and adopted by the 2019 General Conference, or the actions or inactions of its annual conference related to these issues which follow.”

______  YES/FOR   (I WANT to disaffiliate from the UMC).                

______  NO/AGAINST   (I DO NOT WANT to disaffiliate from the UMC).                 

______  ABSTAIN   (I understand this counts the same as a NO/AGAINST vote).