Ordinance of the Evangelical Church Council of the Canton of Thurgau on Church Voting and Election Rights - Scope

1. Where the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Thurgau does not establish its own regulations, the corresponding cantonal provisions on voting and election rights shall apply, particularly the Cantonal Act on Voting and Election Rights of February 12, 2014, the Ordinance of the Government Council on the Act on Voting and Election Rights of June 24, 2014, and the Municipalities Act of May 5, 1999, as applicable.

2. This ordinance governs all referendums and authority elections within the church congregations, as well as the election of pastors and deacons.

1. The right to vote and participate in elections concerning the matters of the Regional Church and the Parish Church is granted to members of the Evangelical Regional Church who have reached the age of 16 and are not under comprehensive guardianship due to permanent incapacity to judge, nor are represented by a person with a power of attorney for healthcare.

2. Foreign members of the Regional Church with official residency in the canton, who possess a residency or settlement permit in Switzerland based on foreign national law or the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, obtain the right to vote and participate in elections upon their registration with the resident registration office of the competent Political Municipality.

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1. Persons elected by the church congregation may only hold office if they reside within the church congregation.

2. In justified cases, the church council may grant permission to assume office before residence is transferred to the jurisdiction area. It shall set an appropriate transition period and regulate the consequences of delays.

3. For election to the synod, residency in the church congregation is required at the time of the election.

4. Curators who are not members of the church executive board are exempt from the residency requirement. They are entitled to a seat and a consultative voice in the church executive board.

5. Members of the audit committee are also exempt from the residency requirement.

1. If a person elected by the church congregation, who has a residency obligation, moves away from the municipality, they shall vacate their position upon departure.

2. In justified exceptional cases, the church council may, upon request of the church administration or the supervisory commission, grant permission for continued service until the end of the regular four-year term after the individual has moved away.

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1. The Evangelical-Confessional Referendums shall take place via ballot on the days determined by the Church Council.

1. All elections of the regional church and the church congregations are conducted according to the majoritarian principle.

1. Elections and votes of the church congregation can be conducted in the community assembly or by ballot.

2. Delegates to the Evangelical Synod, members of authorities, pastors, as well as other representatives to be elected by the congregation for whom neither the organizational regulations of the community nor the resolutions of the community provide for election by ballot, shall be elected in the community assembly.

3. By-elections during the term of office are conducted according to the same election mode and procedure as for general renewal elections.

1. The Church Council is responsible for maintaining the electoral register. According to § 7 paragraph 2 of the cantonal law on voting and electoral rights dated February 12, 2014 (5), the political municipality may assume the maintenance of the electoral registers.

1. Along with the invitation to the municipal assembly as well as to all ballots of the regional church or parish, a voter's certificate must be delivered to the eligible voters as part of the voting or election materials.

2. According to § 6 of the Government Council's ordinance on the Law on Voting and Election Rights dated June 24, 2014, the voter's certificates of the political municipality may also be used for elections and votes of the parish.

1. The voting material includes the voting certificate, the ballot papers, a ballot envelope, and the proposals with messages; the election materials include the voting certificate, the blank ballot papers, a ballot envelope, and in the first rounds of voting, a list of names.

2. In cantonal referendums, the Church Council Chancellery is responsible for the production and distribution of the ballot papers, proposals, and messages to the parishes, as well as for the publications in the Official Gazette of the Canton of Thurgau.

3. It provides the parishes with the documents no later than eight weeks before the voting day.

4. In municipal matters and at the synodal elections, the responsibility for the production of the voting or election materials lies with the Church Board of Directors.

1. The church council is responsible for the timely delivery of voting and election materials. With the consent of the political municipality, the delivery can be delegated to them.

1. The church council designates the offices where postal voting and early voting can be conducted under supervision. With the agreement of the political authorities, an office of the political municipality may be designated for postal voting and early voting.

1. The church council determines the location and opening hours of the ballot boxes within the framework of cantonal regulations and in consultation with the authorities of the political municipality during simultaneous voting processes.

2. The church council is responsible for the setup of the ballot boxes. With the consent of the political authorities, the ballot boxes of the political municipality may be used for voting.

1. Urn Officials: The members of the church electoral office serve as urn officials. With the consent of the authorities, their duties may be delegated to the urn officials of the political community.

1. The parish elects an election committee from among its eligible voters. The chairmanship is the responsibility of the president of the church council, and the secretariat is managed by the secretary of the church council, in an official capacity.

2. The election committee must consist of a majority of eligible members who do not belong to the church council.

3. Unless the parish's organizational regulations provide otherwise, the election committee consists of five members.

4. The election of the election committee takes place simultaneously with that of the church council.

5. The election protocol must be submitted to the church council office.

1. The results of cantonal votes and synodal elections must be submitted to the church council office immediately after the determination, in accordance with the instructions.

2. The results of the parish and authority elections are to be communicated to the church council along with the corresponding protocols.

1. The Church Council Office compiles the results of the synodal elections and cantonal referendums and ensures their publication.

2. The results of municipal elections and referendums are published by the Church Executive Board.

1. An elected person may refuse the election within five days following the election day. In this case, another election round must be conducted, in which the person with the most votes is elected.

1. The voting and election materials include the invitation with the agenda, the voting rights certificate, and generally the proposals with messages and the motions of the municipal authority.

1. The church council is responsible for the timely invitation to the parish assembly.

2. The dispatch occurs in accordance with the regulations of the organizational rules of the parish municipality, but at least 14 days prior to the assembly.

1. Votes shall be conducted publicly unless the organizational regulations of the parish provide for a secret ballot or at least one quarter of the voters approve a motion for a secret ballot. Discussion on this motion is not permitted.

2. The result of an open vote shall be determined by the vote counters.

3. If clear majorities emerge, the counting of votes may be waived.

4. If no clear majorities emerge, the vote must be repeated. In this case, the votes shall be counted aloud.

1. The elections of the church board and its president, the parish pastors, the ordained deacons, the caretaker, and the delegates to the synod shall be conducted by secret ballot. The remaining elections are to be conducted openly unless the organizational regulations of the church community prescribe a secret ballot or at least a quarter of the voters agree to a request for a secret ballot. There shall be no discussion on this request.

1. Determinative for the elections of the parish pastors or parish pastors and the ordained deacons and deaconesses is the absolute majority.

2. For the determination of the absolute majority, blank votes are not excluded.

3. A second round of voting does not take place.

1. If an elected person is present at the municipal meeting, they must declare immediately after the election whether they accept the election.

2. If the election is declined, the second or further round of voting shall be conducted immediately, unless the meeting decides to postpone it. In this election, the person with the most votes is elected.

3. If an elected person is not present at the municipal meeting, they may decline the election within five days of becoming aware of it.

4. In this case, the vacant seat is to be filled at the next municipal meeting.

1. The Church Council Office is responsible for the formal preliminary examination of a popular initiative pursuant to § 72 of the Cantonal Law on Voting and Electoral Rights dated February 12, 2014.

1. The parishes are responsible for issuing voting right certificates for popular initiatives.

1. Signature lists provided with the voting certificate must be submitted in their entirety to the church council office before the deadline.

1. The Church Council Office verifies whether the submitted signatures are certified. It determines the overall result of the valid signatures.

1. The Church Council determines whether the initiative has come into effect.

2. It publishes its decision in the Official Gazette of the Canton of Thurgau, promptly forwards an initiative that has come into effect to the Synod, and informs the members of the initiative committee.

1. The initiative must preserve the unity of matter and form.

1. By means of an initiative in the form of a general suggestion, the synod is tasked with passing a decree in the sense intended by the authors.

1. A draft proposal is present when the initiative contains the formulated text of the intended enactment.

1. The Synod shall decide on the initiative within one year after the submission of the signatures. It may not alter the text of the initiative. Exceptions are reserved for necessary adjustments if the Synod declares the initiative partially invalid.

1. The time limits stipulated in state law for the consideration of the initiative also apply to the ecclesiastical procedure.

1. Amendments to the Church Constitution, agreements and contracts with other churches, with the state, or with institutions of public interest, as well as financial resolutions of the Synod that are subject to optional referendum, shall be published by the Chancellery of the Church Council in the Official Gazette of the Canton of Thurgau. At the same time, the deadline within which a referendum may be requested shall be announced.

2. If no referendum is requested within the deadline, the Chancellery of the Church Council will announce this in the Official Gazette of the Canton of Thurgau.

1. The signature list must include the title and the date of the law or resolution.

2. A withdrawal of the request is excluded.

1. The parishes are responsible for the certification of voting rights in the optional referendum.

1. Signature lists provided with the voting certificate must be submitted in their entirety to the church council office before the deadline.

1. The Church Council Office verifies whether the submitted signatures are certified. It determines the overall result of the valid signatures.

1. The church council determines whether the referendum has been achieved.

2. It publishes its decision in the official gazette of the Canton of Thurgau and orders the conduct of an evangelical-confessional popular vote.

1. The Church Community Regulations may provide for a right of initiative.

1. One fifth or a smaller portion determined by the municipal code of the church community of the eligible voters may request the convening of a congregation meeting in writing and stating the reasons to the church council.

2. If such a request is made, the congregation meeting must be conducted no later than two months after the submission of the signature lists.

1. Eligible voters may file an appeal with the Evangelical Church Council of the Canton of Thurgau due to violations of voting and electoral rights, including legal infringements in the preparation and conduct of ballots or elections.

2. Decisions of the Church Council Office or the Church Council are reserved; these are subject to appeal to the Appeal and Complaint Commission of the National Church.

1. Appeals Pursuant to § 42 must be submitted by registered mail no later than the tenth day after

1. the official publication of the results of votes and elections at the polls;

2. the parish assembly;

3. the announcement of decisions by the Church Council's chancery or the Church Council itself.

2. Regardless of this deadline, suspected legal violations must be reported immediately after they become known, in the case of parish assemblies, during the assembly itself. If a complaint is lodged late, the appeal shall not be admitted.

1. The result of a vote or election shall be annulled if the alleged legal violations were of a nature and magnitude sufficient to decisively influence the outcome.

2. Legal violations that did not decisively influence the result shall be formally recorded.

1. The Regulation of the Evangelical Church Council of the Canton of Thurgau on Church Voting and Election Rights dated September 20, 1995, is repealed.

1. This regulation comes into force as of today's date.