Historic first for New Zealand: Auckland's two-stage election for Assembly
An historic step is being taken leading up to Ridván (178 B.E.) with the Local Spiritual Assembly of Auckland being elected in a two-stage process. The thrilling decision to introduce this process has been made by the Universal House of Justice in recognition of “the significant advances that the Bahá’í community of Auckland has made in recent years within the framework of the Five Year Plan, as well as the relatively large number of adult believers that reside in that locality”.
Full details of how the two-stage election process will work are set out in a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly to the Auckland friends on 21 December 2020, available from the button below.
On the Day of the Covenant, 25 November 2020, the day that the Universal House of Justice sent its momentous letter to the Bahá’ís of the World setting before us a vision leading us into the third century of the Bahá’í Era — the House of Justice also wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly announcing its decision to inaugurate Auckland’s historic step. The House explained:
You will no doubt recall that in its letter of 27 December 2005 to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, the Universal House of Justice anticipated the establishment of a two-stage electoral process for the election of Local Spiritual Assemblies in certain local communities where the size of the Bahá’í population and other circumstances would warrant this development. Indeed, such a two-stage election had its historical precedent in the system established at ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s direction for the election of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tihrán.
The House expanded further:
The election of a Local Spiritual Assembly using a two-stage process will be conducted in a manner similar to that of a National Spiritual Assembly, that is, the believers in a designated unit will elect delegates who, in turn will elect members of the Local Assembly from among all the adult believers in the entire locality.
As careful preparations for the two-stage election proceed, the House encourages the Auckland friends to focus especially on gaining “a deep appreciation for those spiritual imperatives that characterize Bahá’í elections”. A key aspect of this is that: “The movement of populations towards Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of a New World Order demands a major shift in how the believers view authority within the community and how those who will exercise this authority are chosen.”
The friends throughout Aotearoa will naturally rejoice with the Auckland believers and will surely be inspired to renew their appreciation of the Bahá’í electoral process. As the House of Justice wrote nearly 14 years ago:
Through their wholehearted embrace of the Bahá’í electoral process, the believers will witness, day by day, a greater contrast between the emerging institutions of the Bahá’í Administrative Order and the decaying social order around them. In this increasing distinction will be seen the promise of the glory of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh — the System destined to fulfil the highest expectations of humanity. [Universal House of Justice, 25 March 2007, to the Bahá’ís of the World]
Further extracts from the House’s letter of 25 November 2020 are contained in the National Spiritual Assembly’s letter of 21 December, mentioned above.
