“Were the National Spiritual Assembly to decide, after mature deliberation, to omit the holding of the Bahá’í Convention and Congress in a given year, then they could, only in such a case, devise ways and means to insure that the annual election of the National Spiritual Assembly should be held by mail, provided it can be conducted with sufficient thoroughness, efficiency and dispatch. It would also appear to me unobjectionable to enable and even to require in the last resort such delegates as cannot possibly undertake the journey to the seat of the Bahá’í Convention to send their votes, for the election of the National Spiritual Assembly only, by mail to the National Secretary.”

Concerning the matter of drawing up the voting list to be used at the annual local Bahá’í elections, the responsibility for this is placed upon each local Spiritual Assembly, and as a guidance in the matter the Guardian has written the following:

“To state very briefly and as adequately as present circumstances permit, the principal factors that must be taken into consideration before deciding whether a person may be regarded a true believer or not: Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author and the True Exemplar of the Bahá’í Cause, as set forth in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament; unreserved acceptance of and submission to whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved’s sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present-day Bahá’í administration—these, I conceive, to be the fundamental and primary considerations that must be fairly, discreetly and thoughtfully ascertained before reaching such a vital decision.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions provide for the further development of Bahá’í organization through an International Spiritual Assembly to be elected by the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies. This international body has not yet come into existence, but its special character has been clearly defined:

“And now, concerning the Assembly (Baytu’l-‘Adl: i. e., House of Justice) which God hath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God, and day-springs of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s Faith, and the well-wishers of all mankind. By this Assembly is meant the Universal Assembly: that is, in each country a secondary Assembly must be instituted, and these secondary Assemblies must elect the members of the Universal one.

“Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved, and the Guardian of the Cause is its sacred head and the distinguished member, for life, of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. . . This Assembly enacteth the laws and the executive enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body, so that, through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.