(1) Before an election, it is necessary to fellowship on the truth and understand principles. Elect as leaders and workers those able to do practical work, in accordance with work arrangements;

(2) During an election, it is necessary to practice the truth and treat people fairly. Do not be guided by emotion, nor by personal affinities or antipathies; rather, cast an impartial ballot based on the principles;

(3) Every person in a church has the right to vote in an election and the right to be elected. No person may arbitrarily deprive others of their rights to vote and be elected;

(4) Absolutely no one is permitted to designate a candidate unilaterally, and it is necessary to guarantee that at least 80% of a church’s members vote in an election for that election to be valid.

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

The church’s democratic elections for leaders and workers concern the key event of God’s chosen people to enter the right track of believing in God. They directly concern the key subject of church life. Only by electing good leaders and workers can God’s chosen be led to understand the truth and enter the right track of believing in God. If the false leaders and antichrists take power in the church, not only will they delay God’s chosen people in their attainment of salvation, but they will also disturb church life. They will bring disasters to the church, and God’s chosen people will be imperiled and victimized. Thus, how God’s chosen people treat the church’s elections matters a lot, and all of God’s chosen should seek the truth and carry out the election with seriousness and in accordance with the principles. The seven principles of the church’s democratic election that God’s chosen people must understand and comply with are announced as follows. God’s chosen should come to understand them clearly.

1. God’s chosen people in the church (except for those who are going to be purged or expelled) all have the right to elect and to be elected. No one has the right to interfere with the right of God’s chosen people to elect and be elected.

2. When elections are held by the church, all God’s chosen people must all be notified, and everyone must participate (this refers to voting). Those who are aware of but do not participate in the election are deemed to be voluntarily forfeiting their rights. No one has the right to only notify some people to participate in the election or to force a group of people to forfeit. Anyone who deprives others of their rights to vote or restricts them from voting is a wicked person who violates human rights and resists the truth.

3. In the church’s election, no one is allowed to designate a candidate, or deliberately incite or force God’s chosen people to vote by following the will of certain people. This is an act that interferes with human rights and that goes against the truth. Before the election, only fellowshiping on the truth and preaching the principles to practice are allowed. This is the proper way of fellowshiping on the truth and doing one’s duties. Anyone who appoints a candidate according to their own will or incites, deceives, or compels people to conduct an improper election will invalidate the election results.

4. The number of voters participating in a church election must be equal to at least 80% of the church’s congregation. The number of participating voters in districts and regions can be the maximum number attainable, as dictated by circumstances. In the event that some of God’s chosen people are unable to participate in voting because they have not been notified, that particular election is invalid.

5. No one has the right to replace or remove any fairly and duly elected leader or worker, unless they are found to exhibit behavior that is clearly incompatible with fulfilling the role of a leader or worker. In such a situation, at least 80% of God’s chosen people must approve before the prospective leader or worker can be banned or a by-election be held.

6. Democratic election of church leaders and workers at all levels has been institutionalized. Elections are held once annually, and the tenure is one year. No one has the right to replace a leader or worker at any level resulting from an election of the church. If an elected leader or worker has made serious mistakes in office that render them unable to continue working, a by-election can be held for their replacement once it has been approved by a majority of God’s chosen people.

7. From the day God’s house promulgated full implementation of the church’s electoral system, leaders at all levels of the church must be elected, and no one has the right to designate or appoint church leaders at all levels. This is the administrative rule of God’s house that no one has the right to amend. Whoever violates this administrative rule will be punished as an antichrist.

After implementing the seven principles for the democratic election of church leaders and workers, leaders and workers at all levels and God’s chosen people must comply with the practice accordingly. God’s chosen people have the right to supervise the church’s leaders and workers at all levels to conduct elections according to the seven principles. God’s chosen people can join together to restrict and stop any leader or worker at any level who violates these seven principles. If they refuse to comply, God’s chosen people may appeal to the upper-level leaders. This is a just act for maintaining the church work. All God’s chosen people should support and cooperate. Only by implementing in such manner can the disturbance and rampage of the false leaders, false workers, and wicked people be restricted. The church has the authority to expel any wicked people who have been clearly exposed in the church elections if they fail to repent and admit sins. However, its action must be reported for approval.

—Work Arrangements

God’s chosen people should all understand that doing a good job of selecting church leaders and deacons is a major affair that affects whether or not each of God’s chosen people can be saved. This is the kind of attitude God’s chosen people should all have toward this issue: Pick whomever can lead you onto the right track to believing in God; pick whomever can guide you to being saved by God. No matter how you may have been treated in the past, you should let go of any personal grudges and cast a totally impartial vote. If you truly believe in God, then for the sake of being saved by Him, you should correctly treat the matter of electing church leaders and deacons. Voting based on emotions and personal desires only does harm to yourself, and could bring you to ruin. It will not achieve any benefits, nor is it in the interests of any of God’s chosen people. Therefore, when electing church leaders and deacons, God’s chosen should all be considerate of His will and practice the truth. Do not vote emotionally; let go of personal grudge, and act in accordance with principle. Only by doing so will you conform to God’s will and take responsibility for your own life. Prior to each church’s election, the principles behind selecting leaders and deacons should be clearly fellowshiped, and then such selection should be formally carried out. During the elections, high-ranking leaders and workers should preside over and supervise the balloting process. Appointing church leaders and deacons by election is fair and reasonable. On the one hand, it resolves any deviations that might result from appointments made by high-ranking leaders, and on the other hand it prevents unsuitable leaders and workers from continuing in office. This is beneficial both to the work of the church and to God’s chosen people. In the past, the proportion of qualified leaders and deacons appointed by high-ranking leaders and workers was too small, and there were too many deviations. Because corrupt humans who have not yet attained salvation do not possess the truth, they cannot fathom people’s nature essence, are liable to use people in accordance with their own desires, and are vulnerable to being deceived, cheated, and even taken advantage of by others. Therefore, God’s house has decided that church leaders and deacons must be democratically elected rather than being directly appointed by any person. This is what it means to show responsibility for God’s chosen people. Subsequent elections of the church’s leaders and deacons will be held once annually. After the church’s leaders and deacons are elected, they will be directly watered, provided for, and supported by district leaders and workers. If the elected person, after having worked for a while, cannot get any real work done or is unsuitable for the task, then a new election may be held for their position. Leaders and deacons who are able to work effectively may be re-elected as long as a majority of God’s chosen people endorse them. God’s work offers people the freedom of choice. From now on, leaders and workers at all levels of the church will be elected by God’s chosen people, and all those not approved of by them must be banned. An elected person who is later exposed while undergoing trials should be eliminated, and God’s chosen people should then vote again for somebody new. Personal appointments by leaders are mostly incorrect and have less chance of success, whereas the majority of those elected by God’s chosen people are relatively correct and tend to have a better chance of success. This is a fact.

—Work Arrangements

Before an election is held, each church must gather three to five times to fellowship on the truth so that God’s chosen people will understand the importance of the election and know that selecting good leaders is vital for each of God’s chosen to attain salvation in their belief. If the elected leaders turn out to be wicked people, false leaders, or antichrists, then the church will not have a good church life, and all God’s chosen people in the church will suffer losses in their lives. Therefore, whether or not good leaders can be elected by the church involves the question of whether God’s chosen people have a good church life and whether they can gain an understanding of the truth—which is directly related to the life entry of each of God’s chosen. If the truth is fellowshiped clearly in this regard, God’s chosen people will see the election as being important. They will ponder in earnest and think it over to see which people are relatively lucid when it comes to fellowshiping on the truth, can resolve practical issues for God’s chosen, and are suited to leadership roles. After mulling these things over, they will cast their votes accordingly. This is directly beneficial to God’s chosen people. If you vote according to people’s outward performances or your notions and what you imagine, that will be problematic. Some people are very enthusiastic and can abandon themselves and run from place to place, willing to work for God; and they might even be a bit eloquent and good at socializing—but they do not understand the truth, which means they are not well suited to being leaders. If selecting personnel to spread the gospel, it is still fine to base your choice on these conditions, but if selecting leaders, solely possessing these criteria does not make them qualified. The prerequisite for being a leader is to understand the truth, because a leader’s role is to lead people to eat and drink of God’s words, to understand the truth, to enter reality, to enter the right track of believing in God, and to attain salvation. Thus, electing a leader is not a simple matter. Not just anyone who can run around is capable of serving as a leader, nor is just anyone with a good deal of knowledge capable of helping others to understand the truth, nor can just any eloquent person resolve problems. Rather, leaders must understand the truth, possess good humanity, and have the work of the Holy Spirit. Why do false leaders not possess the work of the Holy Spirit? It is because they do not pursue or love the truth. Without an understanding of the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit, and regardless of how well they can run around, what problems can they solve for God’s chosen people? What benefits can they offer them? Thus, someone who has passion but can only run around, cannot be a leader. To be a leader, one must understand the truth. When you see someone who understands the truth and possesses reality, who has good humanity, and who can fellowship with and help God’s chosen people to resolve any difficulties they might have, then this is the sort of person you should choose to lead. Doing so will not only be beneficial for your own life growth, but it will also help all of God’s chosen people to attain life entry. Therefore, you must adhere to principles when choosing a leader. Without principles, you will blindly elect at random based on your own desires, and that absolutely will not do.

—Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

A church’s leaders and deacons should be elected by the entirety of God’s chosen people within the church, and not by just a few of them. If someone, due to extenuating circumstances, does not participate in an election, then those who take part in the voting should at least comprise eighty or more percent of the church’s total membership; only in this way will the election be effective. Furthermore, all of God’s chosen people have the right to vote and to be elected. Apart from people who should be purged or expelled, everyone else has the right to participate in elections. No one has the right to restrict this. People may voluntarily give up their right, but it is wrong for a leader or worker to restrict any particular group of people from participating in an election. God’s house must not allow this. Church elections must not permit anyone to designate a candidate. Designating the field of candidates is the absurd election method of the great red dragon, and God’s house must never adopt it. Designating candidates is the way of Satan and ought to be rejected by God’s chosen people. The carrying out of church elections must be built on the foundations of trusting God’s chosen. The majority view of God’s chosen people should be accurate and correct. All those who do not have faith in God’s chosen, and only believe in their own views, are arrogant and conceited people who do not possess reason. All those who always designate candidates for church elections are selfish and despicable people who have ulterior motives. As the church carries out small group meetings, most people do not know each other. Hence, each group may first elect one person internally, and in the end, all those elected from each group can come together to have meetings for a day or two before electing church leaders and deacons. In this way, the election will be complete.

—Work Arrangements

God’s house stipulates that all of God’s chosen people (except for those who are about to be purged or expelled) have the right to vote and be elected. There are several special circumstances that should be handled with flexibility:

1. If certain previously replaced leaders and workers with relatively good humanity have had real life experiences, achieved substantial progress in life in the past few years, and can solve problems by fellowshiping on the truth, such people are qualified to be elected as leaders and workers. This is because God’s work of salvation is based on whether people have truth reality and whether they have achieved a real transformation in their life dispositions, not on whether they have committed any transgressions in the past.

2. With regard to some of God’s chosen people who were sought after by the authorities and denied of church life a few years ago, they should participate in church life and enjoy the right to vote and be elected if they have not been subject to inquiries and investigation in the past one to two years. In this sort of situation, people should not arbitrarily stick to the rules, or else others could be delayed or harmed.

3. Anyone who has in the previous six months been unable to perform their duty due to being sought after or investigated by the authorities, or due to being afflicted with serious illness, can vote if they wish to participate in an election (no personal attendance is necessary). Despite having the right to be elected, such people tend to lack the qualifications to be elected. There is also the situation in which someone has been promiscuous or engaged in homosexual acts for a short period before believing in God. If, after gaining faith, these kinds of people have shown themselves to have truly repented and have performed well, then they, too, are eligible to be elected as long as they can perform the actual work.

4. If someone carrying an infectious disease understands the truth, possesses good humanity, and is capable of working, then as long as the disease does not affect their work, and they can avoid transmitting it to others, then they can be elected as a leader or worker. If their health is too poor to work, then they are not suited to serving as a leader or worker.

5. In an election for leaders, there is no need to choose two men or two women; selecting one man and one woman is okay, too. However, when it comes to doing duties together, unaccompanied interaction between the two sexes should be avoided.

6. Regional and district affairs chiefs and gospel-preaching commanders are workers, and they must be elected. All leaders and workers must be elected, and may not be appointed or designated by anyone. Those who perform special duties must be chosen through negotiation by leaders and workers, though there is no need for this process to be openly disclosed to the entire church. This is particularly true when it comes to personnel involved in security services; these absolutely must not be openly disclosed to the entire church.

Once a church has elected its leaders and workers at all levels, all of its work will enter the right track, and God’s chosen people can engage in church life and fulfill their duties normally. They then can compete fairly while doing their duties and practicing the truth, without being constrained by anyone. God’s chosen people will support and elect whomever practices the truth and possesses reality; there is no need to curry favor with anyone or take cues from others. They should stand completely on the basis of truth reality; in this way, a genuine church life will emerge, and God’s chosen people will truly be set free.

—Work Arrangements