The countdown begins — a month from today history will be made
Auckland Bahá’ís have been asked to set aside the afternoon of 11 April 2021 for taking part in the first ever two-stage election of their Local Spiritual Assembly. This will be the day of the nine electoral unit gatherings throughout the community where all adult believers will vote for delegates from their respective units who in turn will vote for the Local Spiritual Assembly members for the B.E. 178 term.
This is such an historic moment for Aotearoa that the friends throughout the country are requested to offer special prayers for the success of the occasion, and indeed of the whole process.
And this is clearly a moment for Aucklanders to arise as active participants in the launch of a notable development in the administration of the Cause in this country. Those who attend the unit gatherings will be visibly demonstrating their united backing of the event, and it is hoped the friends will give first priority to this. However, some friends will be unavoidably prevented from attending, and they should participate by sending in their absentee ballots.
Aucklanders, please look out for ballot papers in coming weeks which will have details of the venue for your unit. Voting lists are available to peruse from sector liaisons and from the special assistants to the Auxiliary Board who have been appointed to educate and inform the community about the election. Perusal of the voting lists will enable voters to know who they can vote for — that is, the names of adults in their electoral unit. After receiving a ballot paper, please do not fill it out until the election gathering (unless you are unable to attend the gathering).
Some further details: Units will have just two delegates each, apart from one unit which has 3 because of its larger size. The House of Justice has set the number of delegates at 19 for the time being, and with a voting population of 950, the allocation is one delegate for every 50 voters. Online voting will not be used this year unless a heightened pandemic alert level makes it necessary to cancel the electoral unit gatherings. The purpose of the gathering is to give full attention and focus to the voting process in a spiritually uplifting atmosphere. There will be no formal consultation time.
In preparation for the day, teams of Auxiliary Board assistants have started rolling out a programme on the meaning and significance of Bahá’í elections. This involves both gatherings and home visits. The programme is interesting, uplifting, and well worth doing. The 60 assistants are operating in units other than their own, so that they cannot be voted for by those they are engaging with. The programme is proving to have the additional benefit of fostering community unity.
The next stage of the two-stage election will happen on Sunday 18 April, when the elected local delegates will attend a gathering where they will cast their votes for the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly. The outcome will be announced on the first day of Ridván at a gathering of the whole community that will also provide an opportunity to hear the Local Assembly’s review of the past year and engage in consultation.
It is important to note that the Auckland two-stage election units have no relationship to the national unit conventions for the election of National Convention delegates.
