To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada:
Dearly-beloved co-workers:
Your communications dated April 15th and May 6th and 9th have been received, with their enclosures, and carefully perused (134:8)

Declaration of Trust and By-Laws
The Declaration of Trust, the provisions of which you have so splendidly conceived, and formulated with such assiduous care, marks yet another milestone on the road of progress along which you are patiently and determinedly advancing. Clear and concise in its wording, sound in principle, and complete in its affirmations of the fundamentals of Baha'i administration, it stands in its final form as a worthy and faithful exposition of the constitutional basis of Baha'i communities in every land, foreshadowing the final emergence of the world Baha'i Commonwealth of the future. This document, when correlated and combined with the set of by-laws which I trust are soon forthcoming, will serve as a pattern to every National Baha'i Assembly, be it in the East or in the West, which aspires to conform, pending the formation of the First Universal House of Justice, with the spirit and letter of the world-order ushered in by Baha'u'llah (134:11)

I eagerly await the receipt of the complete set of the contemplated by-laws, the purpose of which should be to supplement the provisions, clarify the purpose, and explain more fully the working of the principle underlying the above-mentioned Declaration. I shall, after having given it my close and personal consideration, transmit it to you, in order that you may submit it to the local Spiritual Assemblies, who in turn will endeavor to secure its final ratification by the body of the recognized believers throughout the United States and Canada. I would urge you to insert the Text of the Declaration, the complete set of the by-laws, and the accompanying Indenture of Trust, all combined, in the next issue of the Baha'i Year Book, that sympathizers and believers alike in every land may obtain a clear and correct vision of the preliminary framework of that complete system of world administration implicit in the Teachings of Baha'u'llah (135:1)

Spirit and Method of Baha'i Elections
In connection with the best and most practical methods of procedure to be adopted for the election of Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies, I feel that in view of the fact that definite and detailed regulations defining the manner and character of Baha'i elections have neither been expressly revealed by Baha'u'llah nor laid down in the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha, it devolves upon the members of the Universal House of Justice to formulate and apply such system of laws as would be in conformity with the essentials and requisites expressly provided by the Author and Interpreter of the Faith for the conduct of Baha'i administration. I have consequently refrained from establishing a settled and uniform procedure for the election of the Assemblies of the East and the West, leaving them free to pursue their own methods of procedure which in most cases had been instituted and practiced during the last two decades of the life of Abdu'l-Baha (135:2)

The general practice prevailing throughout the East is the one based upon the principle of plurality rather than absolute majority, whereby those candidates that have obtained the highest number of votes, irrespective of the fact whether they command an absolute majority of the votes cast or not, are automatically and definitely elected. It has been felt, with no little justification, that this method, admittedly disadvantageous in its disregard of the principle that requires that each elected member must secure a majority of the votes cast, does away on the other hand with the more serious disadvantage of restricting the freedom of the elector who, unhampered and unconstrained by electoral necessities, is called upon to vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired him to uphold. Moreover, the practice of nomination, so detrimental to the atmosphere of a silent and prayerful election, is viewed with mistrust inasmuch as it gives the right to the majority of a body that, in itself under the present circumstances, often constitutes a minority of all the elected delegates, to deny that God-given right of every elector to vote only in favor of those who he is conscientiously convinced are the most worthy candidates. Should this simple system be provisionally adopted, it would safeguard the spiritual principle of the unfettered freedom of the voter, who will thus preserve intact the sanctity of the choice he first made. It would avoid the inconvenience of securing advance nominations from absent delegates, and the impracticality of associating them with the assembled electors in the subsequent ballots that are often required to meet the exigencies of majority vote (136:1)

I would recommend these observations to your earnest consideration, and whatever decision you arrive at, all local Assemblies and individual believers, I am certain, will uphold, for their spiritual obligation and privilege is not only to consult freely and frequently with the National Spiritual Assembly, but to uphold as well with confidence and cheerfulness whatever is the considered verdict of their national representatives.
Wishing you success from all my heart,
I am, your true brother,
SHOGHI. Haifa, Palestine, May 27, 1927 (136:2)

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