Something to be prepared for if you plan on voting to leave the ELCA

We witnessed a surge of inactive voting members or a member of their family crawling out of the woodwork to give a minimal monetary "giving" to keep them as an active voting member.  Take time to clean your roster of those who are categorized as inactive before you post your vote date and then keep a list of all eligible voters at the voter registration table at the time of your vote. If we had updated our eligible voting list as we should have we could have avoided a failed first vote as we lost by about the same amount of these voters who should have been classified as "non-eligible" .We had children of members we had not seen in years all of a sudden be active again by a relative giving a few dollars to keep them active. These people had not been active for years and weren't geographically positioned to become active they just wanted to state their opinion in the form of a vote.

Below is from the ELCA website:

Removal from the Roll Due to Inactivity

A definition of "inactivity" may be included in the bylaws of the congregation. Such definitions normally are framed to reflect a failure to engage in the privileges and duties of members of the congregation, which include, but are not limited to regular use of the means of grace, living a life in accordance with the Word of God, and supporting the mission and ministry of the congregation, the synod, and this church(*C8.04).Removal of a member of a congregation for inactivity occurs only after repeated attempts, over a period of at least two years, to ascertain whether the member desires to have his or her name removed from the roll of the congregation. Removal from the roll of the congregation is by action of the Congregation Council upon recommendation of the pastor. Notice of removal from the roll of membership in the congregation is recorded in the minutes of the Congregation Council and in the minutes of the annual Congregational Meeting. It also may be published, if it is the congregation's custom, in the parish newsletter or bulletin. The parish register reflects the date on which the removal was approved by the Congregation Council.

While the use of an electronic database necessitates that the name of the person be removed at once from the roll of members of the congregation, the parish register retains the name, indicating the date on which the person was removed from membership. Such a procedure respects the desire of this church that these people "shall remain persons for whom the church has a continuing pastoral concern"(*C8.05.).Normally a person removed from the roster of members is not granted a letter of transfer or release. A letter indicating the dates of baptism, confirmation, marriage history, and the fact that the individual has been inactive in the life of the congregation may be issued, affording the new congregation the opportunity to receive the member by reaffirmation of faith.

And let me emphasize once again the biggest mistake you can make in your search for information is to allow a ELCA representative into your Church for any forum as they will do nothing other than give disinformation in an attempt to scare you from leaving the ELCA.