April 30. On this date in 2018, the Bahá'í World News Service announced "Universal House of Justice elected." The results were easily predicted, and the next member to be elected to the Universal House of Justice will be Andrej Donoval.

 

April 30.  On this date in 2018, the Bahá'í World News Service announced "Universal House of Justice elected."  The results were easily predicted, and the next member to be elected to the Universal House of Justice will be Andrej Donoval.

Juan Francisco Mora had been on the International Teaching Centre since 2008.
Praveen Kumar Mallik‎ had been on the International Teaching Centre since 2010.

On April 30, 2018, the Bahá'í World News Service announced  "Universal House of Justice elected," noting these two individuals as the new electees

Andrej Donoval has been on the International Teaching Centre since 2013. 

The next individual to be elected to the Universal House of Justice will be Andrej Donoval.

In the Bahá'í electoral system, with no overt campaigning and politicking permitted, the exposure of potential candidates to electors is a premium. The nine members of the International Teaching Centre routinely travel throughout the world, giving them vital face-time with members of the National Spiritual Assemblies who serve as electors for the Universal House of Justice. In fact, every single one of the current members of the Universal House of Justice previously served as a Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre.

With the turnover of the Universal House of Justice's nine members and with the International Teaching Centre's being composed of nine members, some of whom are women and therefore ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice, a man's appointment to the International Teaching Centre serves as a presumption to eventual election to the Universal House of Justice.

 To illustrate further, in a letter dated October 20, 2008, the Universal House of Justice called for a series of 41 Regional Conferences intended to mark the mid-point of the Five Year Plan and motivate participants to re-dedicate themselves to the goals of the Plan upon returning home. The Regional Conferences were held from November 1, 2008 through March 1, 2009.

Each of the 41 Regional Conferences was attended by two Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre with the exception of the Conference held at Uvira, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had only one representative. The Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre at the time of the Regional Conferences were Juan Francisco Mora, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Hall, Stephen Birkland, Zenaida Ramirez, Joan Lincoln, Rachel Ndegwa, Uransaikhan Baatar, and Penelope Walker.

Of this cohort of Counsellors, the five lady members (Zenaida Ramirez, Joan Lincoln, Rachel Ndegwa, Uransaikhan Baatar, and Penelope Walker) were ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice.

Of the four male members at the time of the 41 Regional Conferences (Juan Francisco Mora, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Hall, and Stephen Birkland), all but Juan Francisco Mora had already been elected to the Universal House of Justice. Given that he has had more exposure to the electors of the Universal House of Justice than any other current male Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre, it was easily predictable that Juan Francisco Mora would become the next individual elected to the Universal House of Justice once a vacancy opened.

In practice, the Bahá’í electoral system most closely resembles council democracy as it still exists in Cuba, wherein individuals elect Local Spiritual Assemblies, who then elect National Spiritual Assemblies, who then elect the Universal House of Justice. With no politicking or partisanship allowed, there is little turnover in leadership and Universal House of Justice members almost invariably serve until retirement or death. In the people's democracies of the Eastern Bloc, these career bureaucrats were known as the nomenklatura.
 

In a similar process, the current members of the International Teaching Centre previously served as Continental Counsellors...

Name	Date Appointed	Previous Assignment as Continental Counsellor
Rachel Ndegwa	2003	Africa, 2000 - 2003
Uransaikhan Baatar	2008	Asia, 2000 - 2008
Juan Francisco Mora	2008	Americas, 2005 - 2008
Praveen Kumar Mallik	2010	Asia, 2006 - 2010
Ramchand Coonjul	2013	Africa, 2010 - 2013
Antonella Demonte	2013	Europe, 2010 - 2013
Andrej Donoval	2013	Europe, 2010 - 2013
Alison Milston	2013	Americas, 2008 - 2013
Mehranguiz Farid Tehrani	2013	Asia, 2005 - 2013