Unit conventions in Auckland take a new configuration
An email on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly to all Bahá’í communities on 29 November announced a decision to divide Auckland into sub-units, commencing in February 2023. The email reads:
Tēnā koutou dear Friends
The National Spiritual Assembly is pleased to announce a significant development in the unit convention process for Auckland. Effective at the next unit convention in 2023, instead of Auckland being a single unit electing a large group of delegates, the city is to be divided into smaller units, each unit voting for just a few delegates from its area.
The change was communicated in a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly on 20 October 2022, which reads:
The Universal House of Justice has received your email letter dated 2 September 2022 (14 Asmá’ 179) and your report regarding unit conventions in Auckland over time. It has been following with interest the situation which arose from the amalgamation of a number of smaller local government areas into the city of Auckland, resulting in more than 40% of delegates to your National Convention coming from the jurisdiction of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Auckland. Your timely review of the current arrangement is warmly appreciated. We have been asked to convey that the House of Justice has determined that an exception can be made in the case of the jurisdiction of the Local Assembly of Auckland, which may be divided into multiple units for the election of delegates to your National Convention. It is hoped that, by doing so, there will be greater participation of the believers in the election of delegates. It is left to your discretion how many electoral units Auckland will be divided into; the number of delegates will remain at 57*
Within the guidelines specified by the Universal House of Justice, and in consultation with the Auckland Spiritual Assembly, there will be nine electoral units in Auckland for the unit conventions in 2023, and their boundaries will be similar to those of the two-stage election of the Local Spiritual Assembly. Auckland’s allocation of 24 delegates will be spread across its nine units in proportion to the number of voters in each unit.
It is an exceptional step to allow Auckland as a single community to be divided into smaller units, and the beloved Supreme Body is hoping to see greater participation by those 18 years and older in the voting for delegates.
* The number of delegates for the whole country is set by the Universal House of Justice, and for many decades has remained at 57 for Aotearoa.
