Diversity outdid itself at the recent 10th annual Baha'i International Convention in Haifa.

Members of National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world have elected nine members to the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa.

What if they held an election without candidates? Without the requisite hand-shaking and baby-kissing, debates or campaign promises. Without even a personal discussion of whom to vote for.

Jacqueline Left Hand Bull-Delahunt, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota), recently was elected chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. She is the first American Indian and the third woman to hold that position.

Tiffany Walters felt the thrill of voting in her first government election in 1995. But it didn't compare to the thrill of voting on April 28 for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, which governs in lieu of clergy.

From April 26 to April 29, 171 Baha'i delegates in this country will gather at the Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent in Wilmette, Ill., to elect members to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States.

Ajit Giani has been a delegate to the U.S. Baha'i National Convention at least 15 times and will be at this year's convention as one of 171 delegates from throughout the country who will meet to elect a new National Spiritual Assembly April 26-29 at the Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent in Wilmette, Ill.

Priscilla Banks wasn't planning to move. Her apartment in Paradise, Nev., suited her fine; her rent wasn't about to go up. In December, however, she relocated three blocks northeast to the adjacent town of Winchester to help fellow members of her faith form a Local Spiritual Assembly, the administrative body that serves Baha'is in their communities.

"If I weren't glad before to be a Baha'i, I was especially glad after participating for the first time in the Faith's electoral process; it was one of the highlights of my life," says Irma Simuni of Wilmette, Ill.