Bahá’í Member Resources

2020 Bahá’í Delegate Election

The time for the annual Delegate Election is approaching where adult Baha’is will cast their ballot to elect the 2020 Baha’i Delegate for Electoral Unit 065 (EU065). Your participation is vital as the delegates that are elected from across the country, from every Electoral Unit, will cast their ballots to elect the National Spiritual Assembly of the US at the annual National Convention. Then every five years the National Spiritual Assemblies will cast their ballots to elect the Universal House of Justice. 

This year, due to the pandemic, the National Spiritual Assembly has decided that delegate elections will be conducted solely by absentee ballot and no Unit Convention gatherings will be held.

There are 2 ways to cast your vote:

• Electronically through the Online Balloting System
• Mail-in absentee ballot

Voting electronically through the Online Balloting System:

The option to vote electronically is open to those who have an email address on file at the Bahá’í National Center and regularly receive Feast messages by email. On September 26, those friends will receive an email invitation from the Online Balloting System (OBS) that will provide a link through which they may vote.

Online voting using OBS will begin on Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 a.m. (CDT) and end on Friday, October 2 at midnight (CDT). If you have any difficulties with this method, live assistance will be available during business hours on those dates. Votes will be tallied by tellers on the weekend of October 3-4. This is the preferred method of voting and the OBS requires the voter to provide your Baha’i ID number. Please ensure your email is updated with National by logging into www.bahai.us/community/profile . If you do not know your Baha’i ID number please call or email Juliet Traub (615-423-5781, julietgtraub@gmail.com).

If you receive the monthly Feast letter via email your email is up to date, you are subscribed, and you will receive the OBS ballot. If your email is correct with National but you do not receive the Feast letter email then contact the Office of the Secretary secretariat@usbnc.org 847-733-3537 to resubscribe.

Voting by mail-in absentee ballot

A blank ballot and two envelopes to be used for voting by mail will be sent by National. To vote by mail-in absentee ballot, please follow the instructions below so that your ballot will be valid:

1. Print on the ballot the name of the person you feel is best qualified to serve as a delegate. You will be voting for one delegate. You must choose only from adult believers who reside in EU065.
2. Insert the completed ballot in the small envelope marked Delegate Election Ballot and seal it. There should be no markings on the outside of this envelope.
3. Insert the Delegate Election Ballot envelope into the slightly larger envelope, seal the larger envelope, and write your name and Bahá’í ID number in the upper left-hand corner.
4. Address the outer envelope to: Nashville Baha’i Center, 1556 Bell Rd, Nashville, TN 37211. Your EU number and the mailing address can be confirmed after signing in to the national website (www.bahai.us/community/profile).
5. Mail your ballot as soon as possible or Drop your ballot at the mailbox outside the gate of the Baha’i Center (1556 Bell Rd, Nashville, TN 37211). All ballots received by October 2 will be counted.

Although we will miss seeing your beautiful faces and sharing in fellowship in person, as in years past, we hope that your heart is lifted and thoughts are focused as you contribute to this ever-advancing civilization by fulfilling this sacred duty.

With loving regards,

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Nashville

Quotations from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi

…I earnestly appeal to every one of you … to … endeavor to approach your task … with that purity of spirit that can alone obtain our Beloved’s most cherished desire. Let us recall His explicit and often-repeated assurances that every Assembly elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment is, in truth, appointed of God….

Let them exercise the utmost vigilance so that the elections are carried out freely, universally and by secret ballot. Any form of intrigue, deception, collusion and compulsion must be stopped and is forbidden.

The strength and progress of the Bahá’í community depend upon the election of pure, faithful and active souls….

I feel that reference to personalities before the election would give rise to misunderstanding and differences…. We should refrain from influencing the opinion of others….

The electors … must prayerfully and devotedly and after meditation and reflection elect faithful, sincere, experienced, capable and competent souls who are worthy of membership….

…the friends must wholeheartedly participate in the elections, in unity and amity, turning their hearts to God, detached from all things but Him, seeking His guidance and supplicating His aid and bounty. If we but turn our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of Bahá’í Assemblies … we are filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and would feel truly disheartened but for the comforting thought that if we rise to play nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be more than compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and power. Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any material consideration, the names of only those who can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.

Extracts from communications of the Universal House of Justice

The House of Justice appreciates that many of the voters at a district election may have a limited acquaintance with the believers of the area, although naturally they will do all they can during the year to follow the news of the work of the Faith and the activities of their fellow believers. All that any voter can do is to vote for those among the believers who are known to him either personally or by reputation, trusting in God to produce ultimately the best result for the Faith.

WRITTEN ON BEHALF OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE TO AN INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER, FEBRUARY 14, 1982