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How the Crown Appointments Commission Votes
by Simon Sarmiento, Anglicans Online UK-Europe editor
This article describes the unusual voting procedure that is used by the body that will nominate the next Archbishop of Canterbury. The membership
of this body is described in Peter Owen's article Choosing Diocesan
Bishops in the Church of England.
Much of what follows comes directly from the report Working with the Spirit:
Choosing diocesan bishops, a review of the operation of the Crown Appointments Commission and related matters, GS 1405, a report to the General
Synod published by Church House Publishing in February 2001. The Review
Group that prepared this was considering, among other things, the constitution and methods of operation of the CAC. It made detailed recommendations
to change the procedure that is described below, which applies to all episcopal nominations, and it also made further specific recommendations
about changes to the membership of the commission when it considers the particular case of the archbishopric of Canterbury. As none of these
recommendations have yet been implemented, as far as anyone knows this is therefore what will happen. The proposed changes to the procedure
are republished at the end of the article.
The two-thirds rule
CAC Standing Orders state: ... If in relation to any matter a vote should be required, the question shall be put and shall be deemed to have
been carried if at least two-thirds of the total number of the voting members of the Commission (without discrimination in respect of Orders)
are in its favour, provided always that the person presiding at the meeting is satisfied that the vote in favour pays due regard to the opinions
of the diocesan members.This is interpreted as meaning that each name submitted to the Prime Minister has to have received a two-thirds majority
in a vote by the CAC’s thirteen (in the case of an archbishopric being vacant) voting members.
How the voting works
The voting is, according to the Perry report, carried out as follows. This is described as "custom and practice".
1. Creating a shortlist The names are reduced by discussion to
a shortlist of between four and six. Before the voting begins, the Chairman asks the members whether they think that any name on the shortlist
is so weak that it should not be included, or whether any previously excluded name should be brought back. This may prompt further discussion
before a definitive shortlist is reached.
2. Establishing a first name In the first round, the members
are asked to write down all but one of the shortlist names in alphabetical order. If a member writes down fewer than the number of names
required, this is treated as a spoiled ballot and that member’s votes in that round are null and void. The voting slips are not signed,
so this amounts to a secret ballot.
The candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and the process
is repeated, without further discussion. This time, members again have to write down one less than the number of remaining names. The process
is repeated until only two names remain.
The next time, the members write down one of the remaining two names. If one
of the names receives 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13 votes, that name becomes one of the two names to be sent to the Prime Minister. If the voting is
7—6 or 8—5, there is further discussion. The members may be asked to bear in mind that the CAC is asked to produce two names, so
that the candidate favoured by the minority could still be one of the two. If a two-thirds majority cannot be achieved, the CAC would have
to adjourn and reconvene on another occasion.
3. Establishing a second name The same process is repeated from
the beginning with all the remaining names from the original shortlist, until there is a second name.
4. Establishing a preference between the two names The two names
produced by this process are both deemed to have a two-thirds majority among the voting members. No weight is given to the fact that one
emerged first. A final vote is therefore taken by the same method to see whether one of the two names enjoys a two-thirds majority over the
other. If one of the names is written down by nine or more of the members, the Commission is taken as having expressed a preference for that
candidate and this is reported to the Prime Minister.
If the Chairman feels that there is a lack of enthusiasm about the two names
which have emerged, he may (says Perry) suggest a second meeting of the Commission.
Some of the Perry Commission comments
Although the final vote in each of the two rounds is taken as being a positive vote in favour of the candidate with the most votes, this
is in fact a system not of positive voting but of voting by elimination. A number of submissions have expressed concern about this. One said,
'We were frankly taken aback at the operation of a system of voting by elimination of which we were not formally advised.' A former central
member commented: The members of the Commission can find themselves with a slate of names none of whom they really want to vote for. The
procedure seems to produce rather weak results when there is a strong conflict over certain names and rather mediocre ones then tend to come
through the middle. Another submission argued that 'in secular politics [an eliminating ballot] is used to produce the least objectionable
candidate, rather than the most popular'.
Furthermore, because members are required to write down the names of all but one of the surviving candidates in each round, with the final
vote being taken as a positive vote in favour of the winning candidate, there is concern that members of the CAC are in fact required to
vote for candidates whose nomination they would not support. One witness told us: 'The outcome was that two candidates were nominated, neither
of whom I supported but both of whom I had voted for.' We understand the desire to prevent tactical voting and to reduce the potential for
deadlock which underlies the system of voting, but if members of the Commission are to be seen as, and feel themselves to be, co-operating
with the Holy Spirit, it cannot be right for them to be placed in a position which might mean that they are obliged to vote in favour of
candidates to whose nomination they would in conscience be opposed.
Perry Commission Recommendations (verbatim - still under consideration)
We consider that the present system of voting should be replaced by one which
- is clear
- at every stage involves positive voting rather than voting to eliminate;
- does not require members to register a vote in favour of candidates to whose
nomination they are opposed;
- as far as possible makes use of the single
transferable vote (STV) system with which members are familiar;
- guarantees an opportunity for discussion and reflection between rounds of
voting.
We therefore recommend that the present CAC Standing Order be amended to introduce
the following system of voting (by secret ballot), which would be explained to members of the Commission in writing in advance of their first
meeting:
- At the Commission's first meeting to consider the vacancy, it will have reduced
the initial long list by discussion to a shortlist of five to seven names.
- At the second meeting, after discussion of the additional material circulated
after the first meeting, the members vote by single transferable vote, using a printed voting paper, to reduce the shortlist of five to
seven names to three.
- After discussion, the members are invited (but not required) to write down
one of the three names. The name which receives the highest number of votes becomes the first name identified by the Commission. In the
event of a tie, the vote must be taken again after further discussion.
- The members are then invited to write down one of the two remaining names.
The name which receives the larger number of votes becomes the second name identified by the Commission. In the event of a tie, the vote
must be taken again after further discussion.
- The Chairman then puts to the meeting a motion that the two names identified
by the Commission be forwarded to the Prime Minister. The members vote for or against the motion by secret ballot. The Standing Order will
require that ‘The motion shall be deemed to have been carried if at least two-thirds of the total number of the voting members of the
Commission (without discrimination in respect of Orders) are in its favour, provided always that the person presiding at the meeting is
satisfied that the vote in favour pays due regard to the opinions of the diocesan members and to the needs of the Church of England as a
whole.’
- Finally, the members are invited to write down one of the two names. The
number of members supporting each candidate is reported to the Prime Minister, and if one of the candidates is supported by two-thirds of
the voting members of the Commission, the Commission is deemed to have expressed a preference for that candidate.
Simon Sarmiento, 22 February 2002
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