Finally it came time for an informal vote.
The introduction of the group voting ticket at the 1984 election saw the number of informal votes drop dramatically.
There were 616,043 electors on the European roll, with 521,525 (84.66%) voting, including 5,618 informal votes.
So far, the board has not held any votes, either formal or informal, on the succession issue, according to the person close to Pfizer.
"I suggest we take an informal vote," he said.
He has mobilized backers for street demonstrations and an informal vote on whether to let him run.
But committee members and church officials quickly indicated that this informal vote would not necessarily be reflected in the study now being drafted.
To gauge public sentiment on that issue, an informal vote was taken at the end of the recent meeting.
A large informal vote of 11.83%, the highest in the 2004 election contributed to this result.
At the first election in 1920, preferences were compulsory, producing an informal vote of 9.7%.