On April 29, approximately 1,200 delegates from 170 nations will elect individuals to the nine-member Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. The election is held every five years at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel.


Baha'is voting at the international election Like Baha'i elections held at the local and national levels, the international election is devoid of candidates, nominations, campaigning or discussion about which individuals should be elected. Voting is conducted by secret ballot in an attitude of prayer. Those unable to attend send ballots by mail.

Elections are part of the administrative framework of the Faith, which has no clergy. Affairs are administered through a system of elected councils at the local, national and international levels. Those elected to National Spiritual Assemblies serve as delegates at the international election.

“As delegates, we have a personal, private and sacred responsibility to search our heart and soul to choose the person we believe would be the best, spiritually and character-wise,” says Kenneth E. Bowers, secretary-general of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States.

The Baha'i writings state that voters should try to choose people "of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience."

These Baha'i-style elections make the worldwide Baha'i community one of the most diverse, globally distributed, democratically organized communities of people -- religious or otherwise -- on the planet today,” writes Michael Karlberg, a Baha'i and associate professor of communication at Western Washington University.

In many countries, he says, Baha'i communities represent “the first experience with an inclusive, participatory and democratic system of governance.”

The establishment of the institution of the Universal House of Justice was called for by Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith.