When people hear that
Quakers don't vote, they often jump to the wrong conclusion – that
we don't vote, ever. Like in
elections and things. As Advices and Queries
recommends, however, we are urged to be involved in local, national
and international affairs – and the fundamental way of doing that,
for the first two, is at the ballot box. In my experience, Quakers
vote fairly reliably.
What
we don't do is vote
internally. Decisions are made through the Quaker Business Method,
which very much involves no voting. Given that I'm writing for a
primarily Quaker audience here, I'm not going to fully explain what
our business method involves, just cover some key points as seems
necessary. A business meeting is a Meeting for Worship, simply one
held in order to make some decision, or receive a report, or various
other purposes. People speak (ideally) as they are moved, and all
ministry is heard and weighed by all present, until the clerk is able
to discern the sense of the meeting and write a minute. That minute
is offered to the Meeting, who have the opportunity to indicate
acceptance or not, and suggest tweaks to wording.
Note
that there's no voting there. If there's a disagreement as to whether
the minute reflects the sense of the meeting, we don't have a show of
hands – we place great trust in our clerks and elders to guide us
through business even when it is difficult. That's what we mean when
we say that Quakers don't vote.
