# How Baha'is Should Vote

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Arash Abizadeh, How Baha'is Should Vote, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote
> ARASH ABIZADEH
> 
> Abstract
> Two widespread misconceptions among Bahá’ís are that, according to Shoghi
> Effendi, (a) Bahá’í voters should not discuss how they should vote prior to Bahá’í
> elections and (b) the only relevant criteria for voting are the qualifications of the
> individuals voted for. Shoghi Effendi in fact suggests that Bahá’í voters should
> discuss the criteria for voting, but without reference to particular individuals.
> Moreover, he provides four different types of criteria that voters should consid-
> er: criteria concerning (1) the qualifications of individual Assembly members, (2)
> the collective makeup of the Assembly as a whole, (3) changes in the individual
> Assembly members over time, and (4) changes in the collective makeup of the
> Assembly over time.
> 
> Résumé
> Deux conceptions erronées assez répandues chez les bahá’ís sont que, selon
> Shoghi Effendi, (a) les électeurs bahá’ís ne devraient pas discuter entre eux de la
> manière de voter avant des élections bahá’íes, et (b) les seuls critères qu’il est per-
> tinent de considérer sont les qualifications des personnes à élire. En fait, Shoghi
> Effendi encourage les électeurs bahá’ís à discuter entre eux des critères à consid-
> érer en vue du vote, mais sans faire référence toutefois à des personnes en partic-
> ulier. En outre, il énumère quatre types de critères dont les électeurs devraient
> tenir compte : (1) les qualifications des membres individuels de l’Assemblée, (2) la
> composition de l’Assemblée dans son ensemble, (3) des changements observés au
> fil du temps chez les membres de l’Assemblée, et (4) des changements observés
> au fil du temps dans la composition de l’Assemblée.
> 
> Resumen
> Existen dos malentendidos muy difundidos entre los Bahá’ís, que de acuerdo con
> Shoghi Effendi: (a) los electores Bahá’ís no deberían consultar sobre la modalidad
> 
> 78             The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> del voto antes de las elecciones Bahá’í y (b) que los únicos criterios importantes
> para el voto son las calificaciones de los individuos elegidos. Shoghi Effendi en
> realidad sugiere que los electores Bahá’ís deberían tratar el tema de los criterios
> para elegir, pero sin hacer referencia alguna a ningún individuo especifico.
> Además, el ofrece cuatro diferentes tipos de criterios que los electores deberían
> considerar: el criterio concerniente las calificaciones de los miembros individuales
> de la Asamblea, (2) la composición de la Asamblea en su totalidad, (3) los cambios
> que deberían ocurrir en su membresía a lo largo del tiempo, y (4) los cambios que
> deberían ocurrir a lo largo del tiempo en el colectivo de la Asamblea.
> 
> Because the Bahá’í Faith has no clergy, the collective affairs of the Bahá’í
> community at the local and national levels are governed by annually elected,
> nine-member Local or National Spiritual Assemblies.1 If the Bahá’í Faith
> is distinct from most other religions in that it lacks clergy, its electoral sys-
> tem is distinct from most other democratic elections in that it is conduct-
> ed entirely without nominations, parties, or competitive campaigns—in ac-
> cordance with the values and norms articulated in the writings of Shoghi
> Effendi.2 The ban on nominations, parties, and campaigns is enforced by
> formal institutional rules as well as by informal social norms against cam-
> paigning: Bahá’í voters are typically averse to voting for anyone they per-
> ceive to be intentionally campaigning for Bahá’í office.
> Perhaps as a result of this norm against campaigning, however, there
> exists a widespread misconception in the Bahá’í community that, accord-
> ing to Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’ís should not discuss how they ought to vote
> before Bahá’í elections. In fact, Shoghi Effendi has said almost precisely the
> opposite: that Bahá’ís should discuss how they ought to vote but that, in
> doing so, they should not refer to specific individuals. He says: “I feel that
> reference to personalities before the election would give rise to misunder-
> standing and differences. What the friends should do is to get thoroughly
> acquainted with one another, to exchange views, to mix freely and discuss
> among themselves the requirements and qualifications for such a membership
> without reference or application, however indirect, to particular individuals.
> We should refrain from influencing the opinion of others, of canvassing
> for any particular individual” (Compilation of Compilations 1:316, no. 709;
> emphasis added).
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                         79
> 
> There is thus a crucial distinction between the ideal criteria or “qualifi-
> cations” that one should bear in mind when voting and the application of
> these criteria to the “particular individuals” who may fulfill them.
> The ban on campaigning concerns discussion of the latter: the applica-
> tion of these criteria to particular individuals. This ban, as well as the fact
> that elections are conducted by secret ballot, is in part designed to allow
> voters freely to determine for whom they wish to vote, without external
> influence. (In local elections, these voters comprise all local adult Bahá’ís
> in good standing; in national elections, they comprise delegates who, in
> turn, are elected by the country’s adult Bahá’ís. Because of the ban on
> nominations, the set of candidates effectively comprises all adult Bahá’ís in
> good standing in the locality or country. Each voter fills their ballot with
> the names of nine different candidates; the nine persons receiving a plu-
> rality of votes are elected to office.)
> But the ban on campaigning does not directly concern discussion of
> the criteria themselves. Not only does Shoghi Effendi say that Bahá’í
> voters should discuss the “requirements and qualifications” they ought
> to consider when voting, he specifies what many of these criteria are.
> The first type of criteria he mentions concerns the ideal qualifications
> of an individual elected as a member of a Spiritual Assembly. Many of
> these criteria are well known to Bahá’í voters, but a second widespread
> misconception is that this first type of criteria, concerning the qualifi-
> cations of individuals, is all that there is. There are, in fact, four distinct
> types of criteria that Shoghi Effendi suggests Bahá’í voters should con-
> sider when voting: (1) criteria concerning the qualifications of individ-
> ual Assembly members, (2) criteria concerning the collective makeup of
> the Assembly as a whole, (3) criteria concerning changes in the individ-
> ual members of the Assembly, and (4) criteria concerning changes in the
> collective makeup of the Assembly over time. Rather than simply study-
> ing criteria of the first type before Bahá’í elections, a thorough prepa-
> ration would require Bahá’í voters to study all four types of criteria
> and, moreover, to consult together in order to better understand what
> these criteria might mean within the context of their own electoral
> unit.3 The four types of criteria are summarized in Table 1.
> 80            The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> Table 1
> Summary of Criteria Bahá’í Voters Should
> Take into Consideration
> 1. Qualifications of Individual Assembly Members
> a. Unquestioned loyalty, selfless devotion, well-trained
> mind, recognized ability, mature experience, faithful,
> sincere, experienced, capable, competent
> 2. Collective Makeup of Assembly
> a. Diversity of membership (including age diversity)
> b. Representativeness of membership
> c. Minority presence (subordinate to criterion 1)
> 3. Changes in Individual Assembly Members over Time
> a. Replace unqualified representatives (remedy defects and
> imperfections)
> b. Improve quality of individual membership
> 4. Changes in Collective Makeup of Assembly over Time
> a. Improve quality of collective makeup
> b. Turnover (subordinate to criteria 1 and 2)
> 
> CRITERIA CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS IN A SINGLE ELECTION
> 
> According to Shoghi Effendi, individual representatives elected to Bahá’í
> office ought to possess the “qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless
> devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experi-
> ence” (Bahá’í Administration 88) and be “faithful, sincere, experienced, ca-
> pable and competent” (Compilation of Compilations 1:317, no. 716). This
> first set of criteria is the most straightforward and most widely known in
> the Bahá’í community: it specifies the qualities that the individuals who
> hold office ought ideally to possess.
> 
> CRITERIA CONCERNING THE COLLECTIVE MAKEUP
> IN A SINGLE ELECTION
> 
> But the purpose of Bahá’í elections is not simply to elect individuals to
> office; it is to elect a collective body. The quality of an elected Assembly
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                         81
> 
> will depend not just on the separate qualifications of each individual
> representative but also on the way that the qualities, skills, knowledge,
> experience, and so on of these individuals combine to complement each
> other as a whole. For example, imagine that the nine individual members
> of an Assembly are all loyal, selfless, intellectually well trained, and so on.
> But imagine that all of them have exactly the same life experiences and
> come from exactly the same background. This lack of diversity may
> diminish the quality of the Assembly even though all the individuals who
> make up the Assembly are, considered individually, fully qualified. The
> second type of criteria thus specifies the qualities that the collective
> Assembly ought to have as a whole, independent of the qualifications of
> the individuals considered separately. As a letter written on behalf of
> Shoghi Effendi puts it: “It is not the individuals on an Assembly which is
> important, but the Assembly as an institution” (Compilation of Compilations
> 1:317, no. 716).
> Shoghi Effendi specifically mentions three such collective criteria: diver-
> sity, representativeness, and minority presence in the collective membership of
> the Assembly. It is clear that Bahá’í voters should pay attention to diver-
> sity in the combination of individuals for whom they vote. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> extols diversity as contributing “to the beauty, efficiency and perfection of
> the whole” and states that “when divers shades of thought, temperament
> and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one
> central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed
> and made manifest” (Selections no. 224.24–25).4 Shoghi Effendi, referring
> to this passage, concludes that the “watchword” of the Bahá’í system of
> governance is “unity in diversity” (World Order 42). A 1934 letter written
> on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
> Bahá’ís of India, Burma, and Pakistan interprets this to mean that a
> diverse membership is desirable on a Bahá’í Assembly:
> 
> The differences of language and of social and intellectual background
> do, undoubtedly, render the work somewhat difficult to carry out and
> may temporarily check the efficient and smooth working of the
> national administrative machinery of the Faith. They, nevertheless,
> 82            The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> impart to the deliberations of the National Assembly a universality
> which they would be otherwise lacking, and give to its members a
> breadth of view which is their duty to cultivate and foster. It is not uni-
> formity which we should seek in the formation of any national or local
> assembly. For the bedrock of the Bahá’í administrative order is the
> principle of unity in diversity, which has been so strongly and so
> repeatedly emphasized in the writings of the Cause. (Dawn of a New
> Day 42; emphasis added)
> 
> One type of diversity that a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> singles out for special mention concerns age distribution. In a 1946 letter,
> Shoghi Effendi’s secretary reports that “[h]e was also pleased to see that
> these changes [in membership] involved more younger people being on the
> National Spiritual Assembly” (Compilation of Compilations 2:96, no. 1440).
> Although the letter specifically refers to younger members, this reference
> presumably occurs against the background of a tendency, in the communi-
> ty in question, to elect older members, so that one can infer from this con-
> text that what concerned Shoghi Effendi more generally was age diversity.5
> That Bahá’í voters should consider requirements concerning an
> Assembly’s collectivity is also clear from Shoghi Effendi’s comment that
> “[t]he Assembly should be representative of the choicest and most varied and
> capable elements in every Bahá’í community” (Compilation of Compilations
> 2:96, no. 1449; emphasis added). This comment not only reiterates the
> requirement of diversity but also provides a second criterion concerning
> the collective nature of Assembly membership: an Assembly ought to be
> representative of the particular community whose Assembly it is, in the
> sense of reflecting its makeup.6 Shoghi Effendi reiterates this when he
> says that Bahá’í elections must serve to “reinforce the representative char-
> acter of Bahá’í institutions” (Dawn of a New Day 125). This suggests that,
> when Bahá’ís consider the “requirements and qualifications” of member-
> ship, they ought in particular to consider the composition of their own
> community, and perhaps consult about what would make their Assembly
> representative of it in this sense. For example, in some communities, a
> large proportion of the population are students, working class, single
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                        83
> 
> mothers, or speakers of a particular language, and so on; voters here may
> well be advised to consider these facts when determining what would
> make their Assembly more representative of their community.7
> However, the point of this kind of representativeness in the Bahá’í
> model is not, as it might be in other models of governance, that individu-
> als from the same group are supposed to act as partisan advocates speak-
> ing or acting within an Assembly on behalf of a particular constituency
> or cross-section of the community. They are not; the Bahá’í model of gov-
> ernance is premised on the idea that the Assembly must be a unified body
> collectively speaking and acting on behalf of the entire community as a
> whole. Rather, the point is that it may be easier for an Assembly that
> reflects the makeup of its own community to be more sensitive to, and
> more aware of, the particular needs of the community it serves, and that
> such an Assembly may encourage a greater sense of ownership and inte-
> gration in all segments of the community.
> The third criterion that Shoghi Effendi provides, which is obviously re-
> lated to the first two, encourages Bahá’ís to seek the presence of minority
> groups in the collective membership of the Assembly. Shoghi Effendi
> refers to “the duty of every Bahá’í community so to arrange its affairs that
> in cases where individuals belonging to the divers minority elements
> within it are already qualified and fulfill the necessary requirements,
> Bahá’í representative institutions, be they assemblies, conventions, confer-
> ences, or committees, may have represented on them as many of these
> divers elements, racial or otherwise, as possible” (Advent of Divine Justice
> 36).8
> The qualifying clause (“in cases where”) indicates that the collective ex-
> hortation to ensure the presence of minorities comes into play only if it
> is also possible to ensure the qualifications of individuals considered
> separately. In other words, the criterion of minority presence is subordi-
> nate to ensuring that the individuals are loyal, selfless, intellectually well
> trained, and so on. Again, the reason for minority presence is not, as it
> might be in other models, to fulfill a desire for partisan advocacy. Rather,
> like the institutional rule in Bahá’í elections according to which ties are
> broken in favor of social minorities, the motivation here is integration: “to
> 84            The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> stimulate and encourage” the minority group “and afford it an opportunity
> to further the interests of the community” at large (Shoghi Effendi,
> Advent of Divine Justice 35).
> All three of these criteria show why it is important for Bahá’í voters to
> consider not just the qualifications of individuals considered separately
> but also the qualities concerning the Assembly’s membership taken as a
> collective whole. One must carefully distinguish these two types of crite-
> ria: being a member of a minority group or being young is obviously not
> a criterion for determining whether any particular individual is qualified
> to be a representative; these criteria concern the collective nature of an
> Assembly as a whole, not the individual members’ qualifications. And the
> issue here is not, of course, institutional rules imposed on voters: each
> voter is free to vote his or her conscience. The issue is what kinds of cri-
> teria each voter should ideally consider when voting.
> 
> CRITERIA CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OVER TIME
> 
> So far we have examined criteria suggesting what Bahá’í voters should
> consider when focusing on a single election, in isolation from other elec-
> tions before it. These are all “static” criteria. But Shoghi Effendi also men-
> tions requirements that Bahá’í voters should consider about how the
> membership of an Assembly ought to change over time from one election
> to another. A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, for example,
> mentions two such requirements: Bahá’í voters (a) should consider how to
> replace individual representatives who have performed badly or unethical-
> ly in office and (b) ought to try to improve the quality of the individuals
> serving on the Assembly over time: “The elections, especially when annu-
> al, give the community a good opportunity to remedy any defect or imper-
> fection from which the Assembly may suffer as a result of the actions of
> its members. Thus a safe method has been established whereby the quali-
> ty of membership in Bahá’í assemblies can be continually raised and
> improved” (Compilation of Compilations 2:42, no. 1364; emphasis added).9
> Consider the second point (b), about improving the quality of member-
> ship in Bahá’í assemblies. For elections to help serve this function, two
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                        85
> 
> conditions must be met: voters must appreciate the relevant qualifications
> or criteria for membership, and they must become aware of qualified indi-
> viduals who meet these criteria, but who may not yet have served on the
> Assembly. Thus, given Shoghi Effendi’s exhortation that Bahá’ís should
> “discuss among themselves the requirements and qualifications” of
> Assembly membership, one potential topic for consultation might be the
> kinds of qualities that could improve the quality of an Assembly, given the
> specific circumstances of the community at this point. For example, imag-
> ine that a particular Assembly’s financial accounts have been in complete
> disarray for a number of years. Under these circumstances voters may
> wish to consider what specific kind of “well-trained mind” the new
> Assembly needs to improve the quality of its membership—for example,
> a person who not only meets the more spiritual qualifications but is also
> trained in keeping accounts.
> If voters are to consult about such criteria, they would need to do so, of
> course, only if it is possible to do so “without reference or application,
> however indirect, to particular individuals.” In many circumstances, partic-
> ularly in small communities, this may not be possible. Moreover, since in
> Bahá’í elections there can be no discussion of particular individuals, some
> other way must be found––such as active participation in the community’s
> affairs throughout the year10––for becoming aware of who actually meets
> the relevant qualifications.
> 
> CRITERIA CONCERNING THE COLLECTIVE MAKEUP OVER TIME
> 
> We have already seen that the quality of an Assembly is not just depen-
> dent on the qualifications of the individuals who comprise it. It is also
> dependent on how those individuals’ qualities complement each other col-
> lectively. Voters should thus consider not only how the individual
> membership of an Assembly ought to change over time but also how the
> collective composition of an Assembly ought to change over time.
> Consequently, when the letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> mentions that “the quality of membership in Bahá’í Assemblies” ought to
> be “continually raised and improved,” this refers to the collective nature of
> 86            The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> the Assembly as well, which ought to be improved over time. Beyond
> improvement, a number of letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> mention a second criteria that voters should consider concerning changes
> to the collective membership of an Assembly from one election to anoth-
> er: that there be some turnover, for the sake of change itself, in the mem-
> bership of the Assembly from year to year. A letter written on behalf of
> Shoghi Effendi reports, for example, that “[h]e was very happy to see that
> changes had been made in the membership of the National Spiritual
> Assembly this year, not from any reasons of personality, but because change
> itself is good and brings a fresh outlook into the discussions of any
> Assembly” (Compilation of Compilations 2:96, no. 1449; emphasis added).
> The italicized text makes it quite clear that this falls under the fourth type
> of criteria, not the third: it is not improvement in the qualifications of
> particular individuals that is at stake; what is at stake is the collective
> nature of the Assembly as a whole over time.
> Another letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, however, points to
> an important qualification to this criterion of turnover: voters should not
> sacrifice the “static” quality of Assembly membership for the sake of
> turnover. In other words, the requirement of turnover is subordinate to
> the first and second types of criteria: “There is no objection in principle
> to an Assembly being re-elected, whether in toto or in part, provided the
> members are considered to be well qualified for that post. It is individual
> merit that counts. Novelty or the mere act of renewal of elections are
> purely secondary considerations. Changes in Assembly membership should
> be welcome so far as they do not prejudice the quality of such membership”
> (in Sanctity and Nature no. 16, emphasis added).11
> 
> CONCLUSION
> 
> The Bahá’í ideal that all forms of prejudice be eliminated applies directly to
> the question of how Bahá’í voters should vote: Shoghi Effendi says that “it
> is incumbent upon” Bahá’í voters to act “without the least trace of passion
> or prejudice, and irrespective of any material considerations” (Bahá’í
> Administration 88). But, of course, the actual world we live in is never
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                         87
> 
> perfect: There is always a difference between how things ideally should be
> and how they are. No matter how much Bahá’ís strive to live up to their
> ideals, there will always be more work to be done. This is true about Bahá’í
> elections as much as it is about anything else: There will always be a differ-
> ence between how Bahá’í voters ideally should vote and how Bahá’í voters
> in fact do vote. This is why it is important that the ideal criteria for voting
> in Bahá’í elections be studied and discussed by Bahá’í voters. The fact that
> Bahá’í electoral rules forbid campaigning has led many to conclude—erro-
> neously, I believe—that there should be no discussion before a Bahá’í elec-
> tion of how voters should vote. On the contrary, Shoghi Effendi requires
> that Bahá’í voters “should . . . exchange views . . . mix freely and discuss
> among themselves the requirements and qualifications” of Assembly mem-
> bership. The ban on campaigning means that this discussion must not refer
> to particular individuals. But voters should still study and discuss the crite-
> ria for voting in more general terms because it is in part through study and
> discussion that they will come better to realize their ideals.
> In particular communities Bahá’í voters may, for example, in all sincerity
> vote for individuals whom they deem most qualified for membership, and
> yet over an extended period of time fail to elect any women, younger rep-
> resentatives, members of minorities, new members, or an Assembly that is
> representative of the diversity of the community. On the one hand, these
> outcomes are the legitimate result of the process of Bahá’í voting and are
> to be respected as the voice of the community. As a letter written on behalf
> of Shoghi Effendi states: “Once Assembly elections are over, the results
> should be conscientiously and unquestionably accepted by the entire body
> of the believers, not necessarily because they represent the voice of truth
> or the will of Bahá’u’lláh, but for the supreme purpose of maintaining
> unity and harmony in the Community” (Lights of Guidance no. 46).12
> On the other hand, it is important that Bahá’í voters reflect carefully
> about their own voting choices and strive to the best of their ability to re-
> alize their ideals and to act “without the least trace of passion or prejudice.”
> Perhaps, without realizing it, voters in a particular community unreflec-
> tively equate “mature experience” with advanced in age, or a “well-trained
> mind” with articulate, manly speaker. Discussing these issues in the spirit of
> 88            The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> learning will help Bahá’í voters be more reflective about the way they vote,
> by bringing to light prejudices or assumptions they may hold without real-
> izing it. What is crucial for such discussion is to ensure that it not make
> any “reference or application, however indirect, to particular individuals”;
> otherwise, such a reference would undermine the spirit of Bahá’í elections.
> As Shoghi Effendi has put it, “Beware, beware lest the foul odour of par-
> ties and . . . pernicious methods, such as intrigues, party politics and prop-
> aganda—practices which are abhorrent even in name—should ever reach
> the Bahá’í community, exert any influence whatsoever upon the friends, and
> thus bring all spirituality to naught. The friends should, through their
> devotion, love, loyalty and altruism, abolish these evil practices, not imitate
> them” (Compilation of Compilations 1:315, no. 705).
> Shoghi Effendi’s injunction that Bahá’í voters “discuss among them-
> selves the requirements and qualifications” of Assembly membership
> should be observed while simultaneously heeding his exhortation that
> such discussion not become a means for intrigue or indirect campaigning.
> It is common practice to read, before Bahá’í elections, passages from
> Shoghi Effendi that touch on the qualifications of individuals for member-
> ship in an Assembly. One conclusion to be drawn from the texts examined
> in this discussion of how Bahá’í voters should vote is that Bahá’í
> communities should consider reading passages concerning the other three
> types of criteria as well. A second conclusion is that, in addition to read-
> ing these passages, Bahá’í communities may wish to provide their mem-
> bers an opportunity to consult about the significance of these criteria for
> their electoral unit. “The heaven of divine wisdom,” Bahá’u’lláh writes, “is
> illumined with the two luminaries of consultation and compassion. Take
> ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch as consultation is the lamp of
> guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower of understanding”
> (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh 168). Yet such a period of consultation would need
> to be clearly separated institutionally from the time of voting itself, to
> provide the contemplative “atmosphere of a silent and prayerful election”
> (Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration 136) that Shoghi Effendi envisioned
> for Bahá’ís engaged in the act of voting itself. Having studied the guid-
> ance available in the Bahá’í writings, and having gained further insight
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                           89
> 
> from consultation, each individual voter must ultimately consult his or her
> own conscience in deciding for whom to vote.13
> 
> NOTES
> 
> 1. In some countries, there also exist annually elected Regional Councils at the
> subnational level; the Bahá’í community is governed at the international level by
> the Universal House of Justice, elected every five years.
> 2. The distinct values underlying the Bahá’í model of governance emphasize
> respect for the freedom, equality, and nobility of the individual person, the unity
> and solidarity of persons, and the justice and fairness of institutions (see
> Abizadeh). The constitutional basis for Bahá’í governing bodies was laid in the
> writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (see Schaefer), but most of the institu-
> tional details were gradually worked out in the 1920s and 1930s by the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada in consulta-
> tion with Shoghi Effendi (see Bramson-Lerche). The institutional rules are today
> formalized in the by-laws of the world’s National Spiritual Assemblies and in the
> constitution of the Universal House of Justice (see “A Model Declaration” and
> Universal House of Justice).
> 3. This short article draws on material from Abizadeh, “Democratic Elections
> without Campaigns?” Voting outcomes result from a combination of two distinct
> features of elections: the institutionalized voting rules and the way voters vote
> within those institutions. The previous article focused on the first feature,
> examining the ideal criteria for Assembly membership in order to justify and
> evaluate the institutionalized voting rules of Bahá’í elections. This short article
> focuses on the second feature, examining the ideal criteria in order to suggest
> what Bahá’í voters should take into consideration when voting.
> 4. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that
> differences are of two kinds. One is the cause of annihilation and is like the
> antipathy existing among warring nations and conflicting tribes who seek
> each other’s destruction, uprooting one another’s families, depriving one an-
> other of rest and comfort and unleashing carnage. The other kind which is
> a token of diversity is the essence of perfection and the cause of the appear-
> ance of the bestowals of the Most Glorious Lord. . . .
> 90             The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> . . . when that unifying force, the penetrating influence of the Word of
> God, taketh effect, the difference of customs, manners, habits, ideas, opinions
> and dispositions embellisheth the world of humanity. This diversity, this
> difference is like the naturally created dissimilarity and variety of the limbs
> and organs of the human body, for each one contributeth to the beauty, effi-
> ciency and perfection of the whole. . . .
> . . . when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are
> brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the
> beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest
> (Selections no. 225.23–25)
> 5. This appears to be the Universal House of Justice’s understanding of the
> matter. See its 25 March 2007 letter to the Bahá’ís of the world, which recom-
> mends that “from among the pool of those whom the elector believes to be qual-
> ified to serve, selection should be made with due consideration given to such other
> factors as age distribution, diversity, and gender.” See also the letter written on
> behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual, 6 July 1944, in Messages to Canada,
> 80–81: “[T]he body of the believers . . . should be encouraged to think more, not
> only about the qualifications of members of their elected bodies, but also about
> such things as you mention, the law of averages, the age and indisposition of
> some of the members, etc.”
> 6. Of course one sense in which an Assembly “represents” the community that
> elects it is that it legitimately speaks and acts on behalf of the community, in its
> name. (Shoghi Effendi frequently uses the term in this sense as well, particularly
> when “representative” is a noun.) But here, we encounter a second meaning of the
> term, according to which an elected body is representative of its electors insofar
> as its makeup somehow reflects the community’s makeup (and not just in the sense
> that it legitimately acts on the community’s behalf).
> 7. One reader asks whether a Bahá’í Assembly’s membership ought to reflect the
> makeup of the Bahá’í population or of society at large in the area of its jurisdic-
> tion. I have not found any textual basis for decisively favoring one interpretation
> rather than the other. On the one hand, an Assembly comprises the elected repre-
> sentatives of the Bahá’í community in particular, suggesting that its membership
> ought to reflect primarily the makeup of the Bahá’í community. On the other hand,
> the duties of an Assembly, as adumbrated by Shoghi Effendi, extend beyond the
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                             91
> 
> Bahá’í community to serving the community at large. Perhaps the quoted passage
> referring to being representative of the most varied elements “in every Bahá’í
> community” offers tentative support in favor of the first interpretation.
> 8. Note again the use of “represent” in the two different senses of the term in
> this passage. Bahá’í institutions are “representative” in the sense that they speak
> and act on someone else’s (i.e., the community’s) behalf; but the divers elements
> “represented on them” are represented not in the sense that the individuals in
> question speak on behalf of or advocate for those elements, but in the sense that
> their presence in the community at large is reflected in the Assembly (or other
> body).
> 9. As the editors of the Journal of Bahá’í Studies have pointed out to me, be-
> cause of the collective and confidential nature of the consultative decision-mak-
> ing process within Bahá’í Assemblies (neither individual opinions nor individual
> votes within assemblies are recorded), Bahá’í voters will often be unaware of the
> actions of a particular Assembly member; indeed, sometimes, particularly in very
> small communities, a change in Assembly membership may not even be feasible.
> As such, the change in membership via annual elections mentioned in this letter
> is not the only mechanism available in the Bahá’í system of governance for
> remedying “defects” or “imperfections” in an Assembly. Two other mechanisms
> are worth mentioning: Counsellors and Auxiliary Board Members (individuals
> appointed to serve the Bahá’í community in a consultative capacity) are available
> to encourage and assist an Assembly to confront and learn from any existing
> imperfections; and individual Bahá’ís have the right to appeal any particular
> Assembly decision to a jurisdiction’s higher representative authority (whether a
> National Assembly in the local case, or the Universal House of Justice in the
> national case).
> 10. See the letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to [Adelbert] Mühlschle-
> gel, [a member of the NSA of the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria], 4 February
> 1935, in Light of Divine Guidance 68. The letter states that it is incumbent upon
> each person “to become an active and well-informed member of the Bahá’í com-
> munity in which he lives. To be able to make a wise choice at the election time,
> it is necessary for him to be in close and continued contact with all local activities
> . . . and to fully and whole-heartedly participate in the affairs of the local as well
> as national committees and assemblies in his country. It is only in this way that a
> 92             The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 18. 1/4. 2008
> 
> believer can develop a true social consciousness and acquire a true sense of respon-
> sibility in matters affecting the interests of the Cause. Bahá’í community life thus
> makes it a duty for every loyal and faithful believer to become an intelligent, well-
> informed and responsible elector, and also gives him the opportunity of raising
> himself to such a station.” See also Shoghi Effendi, letter to a local Spiritual
> Assembly, 14 May 1927, in Compilation of Compilations vol. 1, no. 709.
> 11. Another letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual sug-
> gests that turnover should not be achieved by institutional rules that force it on
> voters by restricting their freedom to vote for whomever their conscience moves
> them to vote for—such as by imposing term limits on Assembly members:
> “Shoghi Effendi has never said that the members of the National Assembly have
> to be renewed partially every year. The important thing is that they should be
> properly elected. It would be nice if there should be new members elected, for
> new blood always adds to the energy of the group and will keep up their spirit.
> But this depends entirely upon the will of the delegates as represented in the
> result of their voting” (in Hornby no. 63; emphasis added). However, another let-
> ter written on his behalf suggests that (at least part of) the reason for rejecting
> term limits, at the time of writing, was that it would be “premature” to undertake
> such a “radical” alteration in the early stages of development of Bahá’í institu-
> tions: “Regarding your questions concerning the advisability of changing the
> basis of the National Assembly’s election and confining it to the body of dele-
> gates or of limiting the term of office: he feels that as any such changes are of a
> radical nature and should therefore also apply to the National Spiritual
> Assemblies of other countries they are inadvisable and premature, both for this
> reason and because of their very nature” (letter written on behalf of Shoghi
> Effendi to an individual, 6 July 1944, in Messages to Canada 80). This is not a mat-
> ter with which voters themselves need to be concerned when voting; it is about
> what kind of institutional rules are appropriate for Bahá’í elections.
> 12. Shoghi Effendi emphasizes this point even more strongly when he refers to
> the “often-repeated assurances that every Assembly elected in that rarefied
> atmosphere of selflessness and detachment is, in truth, appointed of God” (letter
> to the Bahá’ís in America, 23 February 1924, in Bahá’í Administration 65).
> 13. I am grateful to David Bowie, Seena Fazel, Marion Finley, Betty Fisher,
> Monireh Kazemzadeh, Reggie Newkirk, John Safapour, Pardis Sobhani, two
> How Bahá’í Voters Should Vote                        93
> 
> anonymous referees, the editors of this journal, and participants at the 31st
> Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, Mississauga, Ontario,
> August 2007, for valuable comments on a previous draft.
> 
> WORKS CITED
> 
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> Abizadeh, Arash. “Democratic Elections without Campaigns? Normative
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> Shoghi Effendi. The Advent of Divine Justice. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publish-
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>
> — *How Baha'is Should Vote (Used by permission of the curator)*