General Voting

Members of Annual Conference will be voting for legislation and the budget during the 2025 Annual Confernce.

Legislation can be viewed after May 9 here.

The majority of legislation will be addressed during Legislative Sections on Monday, June 9.

All members to annual conference are randomly assigned to one of the legislative sections. Assignments are posted after on this page after registration closes. Legislation will be split between 6-9 sections. During legislative sections, members will vote on assigned documents to build the AC consent calendar to be presented the next day.

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Proposed Amendments from General Conference

The 2024 General Conference passed several proposed amendments to United Methodist Constitution. These unique pieces of legislation only become official once they are ratified by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the aggregate of members to the annual conferences. These votes will be recorded by the Annual Conference secretary and will be sent to the General Conference for canvassing with the other 120 annual conferences worldwide.

During the 2025 Northern Illinois Annual Conference, members will be voting on four proposed amendments to The Constitution of The United Methodist Church. The four amendments focus on four different topics: Worldwide regionalization, gender equality, racial justice, and clarifying the educational requirements for clergy delegates to General Conference.

Throughout the spring, information will be shared about these proposed constitutional amendments so that clergy and lay members feel well-equipped to vote on these amendments. As we get more information, we will share it with everyone.

Click here for more information about each of these amendments.

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Voting Rights for Clergy and Lay Members at the 2025 Annual Conference

Voting Eligibility on NIC Legislation and Budget

• Clergy WHO ARE eligible to vote:
  • Clergy members in full connection
  • Provisional clergy members
  • Associate clergy members
  • Full-time and part-time local pastors
• Clergy WHO ARE NOT eligible to vote:
  • Clergy from other conferences or denominations
  • Clergy on Honorable Location or Administrative Leave
  • Clergy on Involuntary Leave of Absence
• Clergy WHO HAVE VOICE BUT NO VOTE:
  • Affiliate Members
  • Ordained and provisional clergy from other annual conferences
  • Ordained clergy from other Methodist denominations
• Voting Rights for Lay Members (¶ 602.6)
  Laity ARE eligible to vote for:  All business of the 2024 annual conference.

For voting rights at Clergy Session - visit the Clergy Session page.

Voting Eligibility on Constitutional Ammendments

• Who IS eligible to vote on proposed constitutional amendments?
  • Clergy members (elders and deacons) in full connection (¶ 602.1.a)
    this includes clergy on sabbatical leave, voluntary leave of absence (¶ 353.7), family leave (¶ 353.7), transitional leave (¶ 353.7) or medical leave (¶ 356)
  • Lay members of annual conference (¶ 602.6)
  • Diaconal ministers and active deaconesses are lay members of annual conference and as such have the right to vote (¶ 33, Article II of Constitution)
• Who IS NOT eligible to vote on proposed constitutional amendments?
  • Provisional deacons and elders (¶602.1.b, Book of Discipline.)
  • Associate and affiliate clergy members (¶602.1.c, Book of Discipline.)
  • Full-time and part-time local pastors (¶602.1.d, Book of Discipline.)
  • Clergy on Honorable Location (358.2) or Administrative Location (359.3)
  • Lay Observers, Alternate Lay Members not certified as sitting for an absent Lay Member

Return to the 2025 Annual Conference Homepag