On February 7, the Superintendent Nominating Committee announced the nomination of Interim Superintendent Jon Sato for the position of Superintendent for the Free Methodist Church in Southern California (FMCSC). Voting to approve this nomination will begin on Monday, February 28.
Jon has been an elder with FMCSC for seven years and served since 2013 in multiple roles within our conference, most recently as Interim Superintendent since June 2021. We recently filmed an interview with Jon to give you an opportunity to get to know him better.
The Voting Process
To ensure transparency throughout this process, we want to make sure you are informed about how voting will take place. Here are some important details that will help you vote.
Who Can Vote
All elders in the FMCSC, plus delegates and reserve delegates for the current year (2021-2022), will be sent a ballot via email. Delegates and reserves serve for one conference year, so those who served as delegates for Annual Conference 2021 are still the currently seated delegates and are the people who are eligible to vote. All delegates and reserves should vote.
How to Vote
On Monday, February 28, each person eligible to vote will receive an email with a voter ID that must be used during voting. Please note that a voter ID can only be used to vote once and failure to use the provided voter ID will result in your vote being marked invalid. Because your voter ID is unique to you, it is important that you do not forward the voting email to anyone else.
Contact the conference office if you believe someone who is eligible to vote did not receive a ballot.
Vote Counting and Security
Voting will be open for 7 days and will open on February 28, 2022 and will close on March 7, 2022. Voting will be yes / no for electing Jon Sato as the new superintendent of the FMCSC, and a majority of the votes cast will be needed for a successful election.
The tallying of votes will be handled by three people, not including nominee Jon Sato. Voting data will be stored securely on a third-party data system with access only available to the people tallying votes.
Votes by delegates and reserves will be sorted by church and “approved” according to the order of their election submitted by the church last spring. If not all the delegates vote from a given church, then the reserve delegate(s) vote(s) will be counted. (For example, if a church is eligible to have 4 delegates but only 3 of them vote, then the first reserve delegate’s vote will count, based upon their order of election last year.)
Votes by non-elders or non-delegates/reserves will not be counted.
Announcement of Results
Bishop Matt Whitehead will oversee the entire process and, at the conclusion of voting, will be sent all documents to verify the vote. Bishop Whitehead will then make an announcement on March 8, 2022 with the results.
Thank You for Your Leadership
If you were unable to attend the Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday where we were able to hear from the Superintendent Nominating Committee, Bishop Whitehead, and Interim Superintendent Sato, please take some time to watch the recording online:
We are thankful for your support and leadership in both your local church and the conference. Please continue to pray that God leads us and gives us wisdom throughout this process.
