Regulations on the conduct of business in Congregation are set out in Congregation Regulations 2 of 2002 as amended on 12 October 2004 and 7 March 2006. The following notes set out the arrangements in the context of the debate held on 28 November 2006 on the amended Legislative Proposal for a new Statute VI.

Over 50 members of Congregation have submitted a requisition for a postal vote on the amended Legislative Proposal which was rejected on the division in Congregation on 28 November, and a postal vote will therefore be held. All members of Congregation are entitled to take part in the postal vote, regardless of whether they voted at the meeting of Congregation.

A verbatim report of the debate in Congregation on 14 November was published on 23 November as Supplement (1) to Gazette No. 4788, and a verbatim report of the debate in Congregation on 28 November will be published on 7 December as Supplement (1) to Gazette No. 4791.

Members of Congregation presently in Oxford should use the voting papers that will be distributed through the messenger system. Members will be asked to record their votes on these papers and return them to the Registrar so as to arrive not later than 4 pm on Monday, 18 December 2006. Papers received after that time will not be counted.

Exceptional arrangements to enable Members of Congregation who will be out of Oxford during the voting period to vote by fax are given below.

The Registrar is responsible for the counting of votes, and she has asked the Proctors to scrutinise the count. The voting papers will be kept in strict confidence by the Proctors for three months, and then destroyed.

Members of Congregation who wish to vote but who are currently out of Oxford and will not be returning before 18 December should register to vote by fax by sending an e-mail to proctors.office@admin.ox.ac.uk with 'Request to vote by fax' in the subject field. They should give their full name and their college and/or department in the text of the e-mail for checking against the Congregation database. They will be e-mailed a voting form as a pdf which should be completed and signed in the usual way and then returned by fax to the confidential fax number given on the voting form. Votes sent by fax must be received no later than 4 pm on Monday, 18 December 2006. Votes received after that time will not be counted. Faxed votes will be accepted only from those who have registered as described in this paragraph and who use the special form that they will be sent.

Procedures for postal voting on business in Congregation