Dear Baha'i friends,
We have your letter of 14 January 1970 asking questions
about the decision- making process of Spiritual Assemblies.
It is important to realize that the spirit of Baha'i
consultation is very different from that current in the decision-making
processes of non-Baha'i bodies.
The ideal of Baha'i consultation is to arrive at a unanimous
decision. When this is not possible a vote must be taken. In the words of the
beloved Guardian: "... when they are called upon to arrive at a certain
decision, they should, after dispassionate, anxious, and cordial consultation,
turn to God in prayer, and with earnestness and conviction and courage record
their vote and abide by the voice of the majority, which we are told by our
Master to be the voice of truth, never to be challenged, and always to be
wholeheartedly enforced."
As soon as a decision is reached it becomes the decision of
the whole Assembly, not merely of those members who happened to be among the
majority.
When it is proposed to put a matter to the vote, a member of
the Assembly may feel that there are additional facts or views which must be
sought before he can make up his mind and intelligently vote on the
proposition. He should express this feeling to the Assembly, and it is for the
Assembly to decide whether or not further consultation is needed before voting.
Whenever it is decided to vote on a proposition all that is
required is to ascertain how many of the members are in favour of it; if this
is a majority of those present, the motion is carried; if it is a minority, the
motion is defeated. Thus the whole question of "abstaining" does not
arise in Baha'i voting. A member who does not vote in favour of a proposition
is, in effect, voting against it, even if at that moment he himself feels that
he has been unable to make up his mind on the matter.
With loving Baha'i greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)
