SFO International Council
Volume: 1 - N. 3 - 1995 - May - I
From: Koinonia, 1995, N. 1
Document of the Presidency of the International Council SFO regarding procedures for elections at the different levels of the SFO
Rome, 30 November 1994.
From the experience of the first three years of its service to the International Fraternity, the Presidency of the International Council of the Secular Franciscan Order came to the unanimous conclusion to offer to the national Fraternities some arrangements regarding the procedure for holding elective Chapters at the various levels of the Order; these arrangements will fill the existing gaps in the General Constitutions (approved ad experimentum), and will remain in force until the next SFO General Chapter.
A short time ago, prior to the approbation of the current Constitutions, the Presidency of the International Council of the Secular Franciscan Order published a document on legal questions entitled Clarification, the purpose of which was to cover the discrepancy between the 1957 Constitutions and the revised Rule of 1978, while awaiting approval of the General Constitutions.
This document was well received at the time and was adhered to satisfactorily vis-a-vis the purpose for which it was intended. It dealt among other matters with the procedure for celebrating elective Chapters and proposed three different methods of election to office at the various levels of the Order; these we repeat here:
e) for the election of Councillors, a choice may be made of the
following possibilities:
e.1) by way of direct election, office by office;
e.2) by way of voting, office by office, following proposals by the
elected Minister;
e.3) by way of holding a single election for all the Councillors
together, with the logical exception of the offices of Minister and
Vice-Minister.
The current Constitutions do not make any provision for procedures regarding the presentation of candidates. It is the duty of this Presidency to inform the leaders at the various levels of the Order that the possibility of the elected Minister proposing candidates was consciously and intentionally excluded by the Redaction Commission of the Constitutions and that the General Chapter then adopted this viewpoint, seeing that the presentation of candidates to office by the elected Minister could strongly condition, voluntarily or involuntarily, the full freedom of the electors to decide for themselves.
As a consequence, in all elective Chapters conducted and presided over by the Minister General of the Order or her delegate, the long-standing custom has been and still is, with the unanimous accord of the Presidency of the International Council of the Secular Franciscan Order, for the outgoing Council or the elected Minister not to present exclusive candidacies.
With a view to assisting the members to achieve a calm and open celebration of elective Chapters at the various levels of the Order, the Presidency of the International Council has drawn up a series of arrangements; these complement the procedure to be followed in the elections and remain in force until the next General Chapter, in accordance with the norm of articles 5.3 and 73.c) of the current Constitutions.
1. For the validity of election to all offices, in addition to the norms indicated in the General Constitutions, it must be borne in mind:
1.1 a) that the members with full rights (voice and vote) of the
Council of the Fraternity at the various levels must be elected
(cf. G.C. 31.1);
b) that election to each office must be held separately, in a
distinct scrutiny;
1.2 that the General Constitutions distinguish between three
kinds or
groups of offices:
a) Minister;
b) Vice-Minister;
c) Councillors (Secretary, Treasurer, others ...);
1.3 that election to each of these three kinds of offices takes
place:
a) as regards the Minister: in accordance with art. 78.1 of the
Constitutions;
b) as regards the Vice-Minister: in accordance with art. 78.2 of
the Constitutions bearing in mind that every aspect of this
election (and not just the number of votes required) takes place in
conformity with that of the Minister.
c) as regards the Councillors: in accordance with art. 78.3 of the
Constitutions;
1.4 for election to all offices, the procedure may be:
a) by voting directly, without presentation of the candidates;
or
b) by having the capitulars propose at least two candidates for
office in a spontaneous, free, orientative and non-exclusive way,
without prejudice to the freedom of election of each member (cf.
C.G. 77.2); or
c) by having an orientative and secret vote;
c.1) during the elective Chapter; or
c.2) by way of a voting paper sent to each elector, in such a way
that the process is initiated on each occasion at least 30 days
prior to the celebration of the Chapter.
In this case, having received back from the Fraternity the sealed
envelopes containing the voting papers, the Council will go ahead
with the scrutiny, ensuring the secret nature of the vote. The
result will be communicated to the members assembled in Chapter. In
the event that the presentation of candidates occurs by means of
the voting papers, these latter should at least contain the names
of the members who received the most votes for each office as well
as a blank line to guarantee the freedom of the electors.
2. Re-election and the calculation of mandates:
2.1 for the re-election of the Minister, art. 79.1 and 2 of the General Constitutions applies;
2.2 for the re-election of the Vice-Minister, in the light of the silence of the General Constitutions at art. 79, the procedure to be followed is the same as that for the Minister, bearing in mind the provisions of art. 78.2 regarding the election;
2.3 for the re-election of the Councillors, art. 79.3 and 4 of
the General Constitutions applies.
As regards the Councillors, it must be remembered that the mandate
is that of a member of the Council and not as someone occupying a
particular office (Secretary, Treasurer or other). Therefore, for a
re-election, account is taken of all the successive mandates in the
different offices.
2.4 In going from a lower to a higher office, as from a higher to a lower one, the mandates are not counted because, as indicated in point 1.2 of this document, each kind of office has its own procedure.
3. The President of the Chapter designates the secretary and the scrutineers from among the members of the Chapter.
Emanuela De Nunzio
SFO General Minister