How Close Is It?

How close is the vote on amendment B? According to the presbytery tally the vote is 42-69. The margin looks wide. But on the individual vote level, it is much, much closer.

For instance, three presbyteries tied, which counts as a no. If each had one more yes vote, the score would be 45-66.

Here are some of the other close votes:

34-36
71-74
37-40
41-46
38-43
49-56
68-75
72-80
26-36
30-40
65-75

A total of a 70 vote margin over 12 presbyteries. Had 82 people (over 12 presbyteries) shown up for the meeting and voted yes, each presbytery would have approved the amendment by one vote, bringing the score to:

56-55

With the remaining presbyteries left to vote, that would have been an easy win.

If you look at the "popular vote" regarding the number of commissioners, about 46% of them (so far) have voted in favor of amendment B.

It is that close.

The point is not to say what might have been, but to show that we are much closer than we may think to removing this discriminatory barrier in the PC(USA).

Every vote does count. It counts now, it counts for the future and it counts for the witness for equality.