Quote from COC:
At the October 11, 1978, meeting, of thirteen members present, nine
voted in favor of changing the traditional policy so that the decision
to accept or reject alternative service would be left to the conscience
of the individual; four did not vote for this. The result? Since there were
then sixteen members in the Body (though not all were present) and since
nine was not two-thirds of sixteen, no change was made.
On October 18 there was discussion on the subject but no vote
taken. On November 15 , all sixteen members were present and eleven
voted for changing the policy so that the Witness who conscientiously
felt he could accept such service would not be automatically categorized
as unfaithful to God and disassociated from the congregation.
This was a two-thirds majority. Was the change made?
No, for after a brief intermission, Governing Body member
Lloyd Barry, who had voted with the majority in favor of a change,
announced that he had changed his mind and would vote for continuance
of the traditional policy. That destroyed the two-thirds
majority. A subsequent vote taken, with fifteen members present,
showed nine favoring a change, five against and one abstention.
Six sessions of the Governing Body had discussed the issue and,
when votes were taken, in every case a majority of the Governing
Body members had favored removal of the existing policy. The one
vote with the two-thirds majority lasted less than one hour and the
policy remained in force. As a result Witness men were still expected
to risk imprisonment rather than accept alternative service—even
though, as the letters coming in from the survey showed, they might
conscientiously feel such acceptance was proper in God’s sight.
Incredible as it may seem, this was the position taken, and most
members of the Body appeared to accept it all as nothing to be disturbed
about. They were, after all, simply following the rules in force.