At the Feast tonight we were told about a recent House letter giving
guidance about voting in Baha'i elections. It is a March 25 letter that
others here must have seen. What we were told about it makes me think it
has been totally misunderstood because the House of Justice advice about
voting sounded antithetical to the advice of Shoghi Effendi! I heard a bit
read from it and that part appeared to confirm the report. The advice those
present at the Feast were given was that if there are a number of people who
have all the necessary qualifications for membership of an Assembly one
should choose among these people in a manner to achieve diversity. If
that's what was meant then that's another way of saying one shouldn't try to
vote for the best nine! Here are two letters which I should think make it
clear that we are to vote for the best nine people:
"...I do not feel it to be in keeping with the spirit of the Cause to impose
any limitation upon the freedom of the believers to choose those of any
race, nationality or temperament, who best combine the essential
qualifications for membership of administrative institutions. They should
disregard personalities and concentrate their attention on the qualities and
requirements of office, without prejudice, passion or partiality. The
Assembly should be representative of the choicest and most varied and
capable elements in every Baha'i community." (From a letter of the Guardian
to an individual believer, August 11, 1933: The Spiritual Character of
Baha'i Elections, p. 3)
"It is a basic principle of elections for Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies that
each voter must vote for the nine people who, in his or her opinion, are
best suited to serve. He may have a low opinion of all those who are
eligible, but his duty is to vote for those nine from among them who, in his
estimation, best meet the standards for service on a Spiritual Assembly.
(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an
individual believer, October 26, 1983)
The last letter refutes what I was told the recent House letter says, so I
imagine there has been some misunderstanding.
Regards,
David
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