(RNS) — Two years ago on Election Day, Pastor Lee May, leader of Transforming Faith Church, a predominantly Black congregation in Stonecrest, Georgia, served as a poll chaplain, posted at a local voting site to promote calm at a time of intense political divisions. Most of the difficulties that day, he said, involved people who weren’t sure they were at their correct polling place.
Things could be different this year, May said. To prepare, he and other clergy have added more de-escalation training to their preparations.
May got his training from Faiths United to Save Democracy, a multifaith and multiracial coalition that has enlisted more than 700 chaplains so far and is seeking to train more in the last week before Election Day.
“Because many states have changed the law to further empower partisan poll watchers,” said the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners and a member of the coalition’s core team, “we’re anxious that that is going to create a lot more problems at polling sites and, potentially, further intimidate and deter voters, Black and brown voters in particular, from voting.”
A graphic by Faiths United to Save Democracy. Graphic by Walida Smith, Faiths United to Save Democracy
Two years of disinformation and agitation over the 2020 election results have heightened fears of violence and mischief at voting sites this year. Poll watchers from both ends of the political spectrum have vowed to be out in force. Several states, furthermore, have made it more difficult to vote by mail, created new voter ID requirements and reduced registration options, raising the possibility of more disagreements and chaos on Nov. 8.
The rising tension has prompted clergy groups to mobilize for the midterms with new approaches and broader coalitions. They are supplementing long-standing initiatives for voter registration, education and mobilization with voter protection and expanding efforts such as Sojourners’ “Lawyers and Collars” program, which teamed poll chaplains with lawyers and advisers who could be called to answer questions and defuse tempers.
The Rev. Lee May. Courtesy photo
May, who once was the CEO of DeKalb County and now partners with Faith Works, another clergy coalition that mobilizes voters through his state’s churches, thinks the initiatives of religious leaders are contributing to the record turnouts for early voting. Data from the Georgia secretary of state show turnout as of Tuesday was already up 38% from the 2018 midterms.
This year, many clergy worked long before Election Day to make sure all voters have a voice. In Wisconsin, the Rev. Ari Douglas, pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Janesville, helped organize a candidate forum for city council and state senator candidates where they learned about the issues on the minds of low-income voters.
The nonpartisan Faith in Florida has also put together listening sessions to address concerns about the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade; Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which limits teachers from talking about sexual orientation to young students; and new “election police” who have charged formerly incarcerated people who had received voter registration cards.
“All of these things have brought people together in a way that has never happened before, because we see something wrong morally,” said the Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida and a leader of New Generation Missionary Baptist Church, an independent congregation in Opa-locka.
The Rev. Rhonda Thomas at the White House. Photo courtesy of Faith in Florida
Christian clergy who have long worked to get their congregants to polling places are also expanding their reach by including more non-Christian clergy in get-out-the-vote efforts.