The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers”
“As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State.”
The answer sets out five factors a Witness should weigh, says that ‘in many lands Jehovah’s Witnesses make a personal decision not to vote’, and adds that if someone decides to go to the polling booth ‘what he does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator’. It also says that a Christian woman whose unbelieving husband insists she present herself to vote should not be criticised.
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Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, Questions From Readers
Confidence note. Document opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read in full; the quoted sentence sits after the page 28 marker.
Notes. The answer does not describe itself as a change and makes no reference to any earlier ruling other than the 1950 article it quotes.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-p-w-1999-1101-qfr-voting