Resolving Tie Votes Using the Racial Minority Principle
Shoghi Effendi’s instruction is clear that when an election results in a tie vote and one of the persons represents a minority, the minority person should unhesitatingly be accorded the priority without having a revote to break the tie. The policy of the National Spiritual Assembly is that a minority for the purpose of resolving tie votes in Bahá’í elections must be determined solely by race according to the US population only—not in the local Bahá’í community or in the Assembly.
At this time, the following are identified as racial minorities: American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. Individuals of mixed race are also considered minorities. Persians and women are not considered minorities for the purposes of Bahá’í elections.
If 1) the minority principle does not apply, 2) more than one of those who are tied represent minorities, or 3) there is uncertainty about whether an individual involved in the tie should be considered a minority, a revote should take place among those present at the election meeting, choosing only from among those who have tied. If two or more minority individuals are involved in the tie, the revote must be held to choose only from among the minorities.
Exception for LSA elections: In Ridván elections, if only a small portion of the community is still present when the need for a revote is announced, absentee voters may participate by casting their ballots online. Ties that need to be broken would be for the remaining positions on a Spiritual Assembly.
Exception for sub-unit delegate elections: In the case of sub-unit Convention gatherings for national delegate elections, if the minority principle does not apply, ties are referred to the National Spiritual Assembly for resolution. No revote is to be called for.
Breaking Ties Using the Online Balloting System
The Online Balloting System (OBS) allows chief and assistant chief tellers to resolve and report the outcomes of tie votes for most election types (not applicable for Regional Bahá’í Council and Spiritual Assembly officer elections).
After results are merged, the system will notify chief or assistant chief tellers if the voting resulted in a tie, and tied positions will be highlighted (see image below).
A “Break the Tie” button, which initiates a new round of voting, also becomes available.
IMPORTANT: Chief/assistant chief tellers cannot proceed to the “Reporting” step without resolving the tie.
Exception for sub-unit national delegate election: If the elections held in sub-units resulted in a tie, the chief/assistant chief teller can click the “Proceed to Reporting” button to skip the “Break the Tie” process, and an LSA officer will designate the electee after the National Assembly resolves the tie.
After clicking “Break the Tie,” you will be given two options:
Designate the Electee – Allows the chief or assistant chief teller to choose the electee in OBS after the tie has been resolved using the minority principle or a revote done entirely on paper.
Revote Using OBS – Initiates a new round of voting using online and physical ballots. Results are calculated in OBS.
PLEASE NOTE: If after designating an electee in OBS using the racial minority principle, there are still ties to be broken, the Revote Using OBS approach can also be used.
Designate the Electee in OBS
When proceeding with the “Designate the Electee” option, the system offers you a pop-up window where you will be able to do the following:
Designate the electee by checking a box next to the person’s name.
Add any necessary comments about how the tie was resolved.
Confirm your selection.
After the electee is designated, OBS will display the Merged Results page shown below. The electee’s name will be highlighted in green. If there are no errors, click “Proceed to Reporting” to sign the report.
Revote Using OBS
If you choose the “Revote Using OBS” option, the system offers a pop-up window where you will be able to do the following:
Check the number of vacancies; this is automatically calculated by the system and you are not able to change it.
In the case of Ridván elections you may send an email inviting eligible electors to cast their ballots online—only when there are not enough people present at the in-person meeting.
Check the names of the individuals involved in the revote.
Click “Confirm” to start the voting.
Once the revote begins, online voters can cast their ballots as usual (i.e., logging in to OBS, choosing the election, and casting a vote).
PLEASE NOTE: Please note that there is no time limit for the Revote Using OBS so the chief/assistant chief teller ends voting by clicking “End Online Voting.”
Should voting need to be canceled for any reason, simply click “Clear All Votes.” All votes will be discarded and the process can start over again.
After the chief/assistant chief teller ends the online voting period, the system will ask if physical ballots were cast in the revote, offering the following responses:
No, we do not have physical ballots — If you choose this option, the system will process the online ballots and transfer you to the Merged Results page. There, you will be able to initiate another revoting round, if the tie was not resolved, or proceed to the Reporting page.
Yes, we have physical ballots — If you choose this option, you will be able to enter votes using the Input Physical Ballots page, to which you will be transferred automatically. Votes from each ballot can be added by clicking “+” near the name of the individual who received the vote. Note: There is no voter verification step if "Revote Using OBS" is chosen.
When finished entering votes, click “End Revote.” The system will merge the votes entered with the online votes and display the result.
Click “Confirm Results” to complete the Revote Using OBS round.
Confirmed results will be reflected on the Merged Results page, shown below. If the tie was resolved, you will see a message to that effect, and the name of the electee will be highlighted in green.
To view details of the Revote Using OBS round(s), click the “View Results” button at the bottom of the Merged Results page.
Once the tie is resolved, the chief/assistant chief teller can move to the final step—Reporting. Click “Proceed to Reporting” to sign the tellers’ report and complete the balloting process. Notify the Spiritual Assembly officer who will confirm the results and close the election.
PLEASE NOTE: Initiate another Revote Using OBS round if the tie was not resolved in the previous round.