General Information about Electing Assembly Officers
For your convenience, additional general information about electing Assembly officers (from “Instructions for Assembly Formation and the Election of Officers in 2024” and from chapters 2 and 3 of Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies) is included below and on the following pages.
CALLING THE FIRST MEETING AND ELECTING ASSEMBLY OFFICERS
Once the election or joint declaration has taken place, the Assembly may begin functioning…. The Assembly should continue to operate unless it is notified by the National Assembly, following receipt of the formation report, that the Assembly cannot be recognized. The first meeting of the Assembly shall be called (convened) by the member who received the most votes (or, if two or more members have both received the most votes, then by the member selected by lot from among them). The convener shall preside until the election of the Assembly’s chairman. Officers should be elected as soon as possible after the formation of the Assembly and after reviewing the responsibilities of each office. All Assembly members must be informed of the meeting for the election of officers and be given the opportunity to attend. Officers are elected with a minimum of five votes each, and the results of each inconclusive outcome should be made known to the participating members. (For example, if a vote for the treasurer results in four votes for Monica, four votes for Andres, and one vote for Lua, the members of the Assembly should be informed of this before they revote. This is simply an announcement of the outcome of each balloting, as all Assembly members continue to be equally eligible for election as the treasurer.)
Instructions for Assembly Formation and the Election of Officers in 2024, page 5
FIRST MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY
The first meeting of a newly-elected Assembly shall be called by the member elected to membership by the highest number of votes or, in case two or more members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by the member selected by lot from among those members; and this member shall preside until the permanent Chairman shall be chosen.
By-Laws of a Local Spiritual Assembly, Article VIII (updated 2021)
Among the first actions for an Assembly to undertake is to elect its officers. Before doing so, it may be helpful for the Assembly to review portions of the compilation, The Local Spiritual Assembly, downloadable from https://www.bahai.org/library/, in order to strengthen a common understanding among members of the sacred nature of the institution. In addition, as a reminder to all members, the confidentiality agreement, which is available on the “Local Spiritual Assembly and Community References” page of the national member services website at https://www.bahai.us/community/resources/assembly-references under “Download Supplements to Guidelines,” should be read, and any members who have not already signed one should do so. Other tasks could include giving members keys, passwords, any needed training, and appropriate documentation for their offices.
ELECTION OF ASSEMBLY OFFICERS
The officers of the Spiritual Assembly shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the entire membership of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.
By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States:
By-Laws of a Local Spiritual Assembly, Article VII
While it is certainly true that the permanent officers of an Assembly should be elected immediately following the election of that Assembly, it is equally important, as stated in Article IV of the By-laws of the National Assembly, that “The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the entire membership of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.” That is all members of the Assembly must be properly notified and given an opportunity to vote, and in cases of unavoidable absence it does not contravene the spirit of the By-laws if the absent member should cast his ballot by mail or even by telephone.
Temporary officers may be elected until all nine are properly notified of the election.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated July 27, 1981,
to a National Spiritual Assembly, in Lights of Guidance, no. 96
Any officer elected must have received at least five votes, even if only five members are present. The ballots of any absentee members cannot be counted if re-voting is necessary. If for any reason no member receives five votes, then the Assembly must in consultation appoint one or more temporary officers to function until the next meeting, and must call another meeting as soon as possible to elect permanent officers.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated September 26, 1983,
to a Local Spiritual Assembly, in Lights of Guidance, no 101
If all nine members of the Assembly are present at the Annual Meeting, the election of officers may take place. If not, the convener should make arrangements to schedule a separate meeting at the earliest time when all of the members may participate in electing permanent officers. All nine members of the Assembly must be informed of this meeting with reasonable advance notice.
Preferable That Assembly Offices Are Held By Different People
We are asked to say it is preferable that a person hold no more than one office, but it is within the discretion of your Assembly to permit a member to hold two offices.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated July 4, 1984,
to a National Spiritual Assembly, in Lights of Guidance, no. 98
The National Spiritual Assembly feels that the offices of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary should be held by different people.
Assembly Member May Request Not To Be Officer
As you know the beloved Guardian highly reprobated resignation from any office to which a believer has been elected and it is certainly best, at this present state of the Cause, for the friends to accept elective service whenever they are called upon to do so. However, there is no objection for an overburdened believer asking the Spiritual Assembly to which he may be elected not to appoint him as an officer or to a committee.
Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated December 9, 1970,
to a National Spiritual Assembly
We have also been asked to point out that although it is the obligation of a Bahá’í to serve on an Assembly, either Local or National, when elected, on several occasions the beloved Guardian pointed out that before the election of officers, if any member had a good reason in his own opinion why he should not be elected to one of the offices of the Assembly, he was free to suggest that he should not be so elected.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated February 9, 1987,
to an individual believer, in Lights of Guidance, no. 97
DUTIES OF OFFICERS MAY BE DISCUSSED BEFORE BALLOTS ARE CAST
The House of Justice also feels that as the work of the Faith expands and the duties of officers, particularly on National Spiritual Assemblies, acquire more importance, it is permissible and at times advisable to discuss the duties incumbent upon and required of each officer before ballots are cast.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated February 9, 1987,
to an individual believer, in Lights of Guidance, no. 97
OFFICERS ARE ELECTED BY ASSEMBLY MAJORITY
The majority of all nine members of an Assembly, or a majority of all members of a committee, is necessary to elect officers. All members of the Assembly or committee must be given an opportunity to cast their ballots.
However, in case of unavoidable absence, it does not contravene the spirit of the By-Laws if the member casts his ballot by mail or by telephone. All other details in the application of these principles are within the discretion of the Assembly.
Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated August 6, 1967,
to a National Spiritual Assembly
Any officer elected must have received at least five votes, even if only five members are present. The ballots of any absentee members cannot be counted if re-voting is necessary. If for any reason no member receives five votes, then the Assembly must in consultation appoint one or more temporary officers to function until the next meeting, and must call another meeting as soon as possible to elect permanent officers.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated September 26, 1983,
to a local Spiritual Assembly, in Lights of Guidance, no 101
REPORT INCONCLUSIVE BALLOTING DETAILS
In the election of officers for an Assembly, the complete result of each vote should be known to all members of the Assembly. The names and tally should be given by the tellers, and if no member received the required majority, the members should proceed to vote again. Voting should not be confined to those receiving the highest number of votes.
Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated August 4, 1981,
to an individual believer, in Lights of Guidance, no. 99
REPORTING THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS
If the officer election process is completed through the Online Balloting System (OBS), the results will be automatically submitted to the eMembership2 system. There is no need to manually report the officers' election results. If OBS is not used, the Assembly member serving as the chief teller for the officers’ election should record the results of the election on the “Local Spiritual Assembly Officers’ Election Report Form” (available from the member services website at https://www.bahai.us/community/elections/ridvan-elections) and submit the results through eMembership2 (or by mailing or faxing a copy to the Membership Office as stated on the form) as soon as possible. The original form should be retained in the Assembly’s permanent records.