The Steering Committee of the Lay Congress Planning Groups has issued the following rules governing the elections and organization of the Archdiocese Congress planned to take place in the Spring.

1. Each parish shall be entitled to the number of delegates based upon the number of registered members. There shall be at least one and not more than five delegates from any one parish.

2. A Nominations and Elections Committee of five shall be set up in each parish. Two members shall be appointed by the parish’s men’s organization, two by the women’s organization and one by the pastor.

3. The duties of the parish Nominations and Elections Committee shall be: (a) To prepare a ticket of at least twice as many nominees as are required for the positions to be filled. Those receiving the largest number of votes shall serve as delegates; the balance shall be designated as alternates in the order of the number of voted received. Members of the parish may submit the names and qualifications of persons of their choice to the Nominations and Elections Committee for its consideration. A candidate must be at least twenty-one years of age and a member of the parish or mission in good standing, to be eligible to serve as a delegate.

(b) To conduct the election of parish delegates to the Lay Congress as described in rule #4.

4. January 30, 1966 shall be designated as archdiocesan election day. Every registered member of a parish eighteen years of age or over shall be eligible to vote.

(a) Ballot forms shall be prepared by the Steering Committee and distributed to the parishes on the basis of the number of members eligible to vote.

(b) Parish Nominations and Elections Committees shall be responsible for mailing to each member of their respective parishes eligible to vote, a ballot listing names of nominees to be elected to represent the parish at the Lay Congress. Ballots shall be mailed on January 20.

(c) Parish Nominations and Elections Committees shall appoint as many tellers as shall be deemed necessary to count the ballots.

(d) Parish Nominations and Elections Committees shall provide a ballot box at the church into which all ballots shall be placed. Ballot boxes shall be available from before the first Mass until after the last Mass on Sunday, January 30. Ballots shall be counted immediately after voting is completed.

(e) Results of the election shall be published in the parish bulletin on Sunday, February 6.

(f) The Parish Nominations and Elections Committees shall inform the Steering Committee of the results of the elections immediately after they are available. They shall certify their respective delegates and alternates to the secretary of the Steering Committee.

5. Each member of the Ad Hoc Committee called together by the archbishop, if not elected as a delegate, shall be a member of the Lay Congress, electing the officers and forming the committees of the Lay Congress.