Voter protection training begins as clergy, secular groups look toward election
Steve Bland Jr.k co-leader of a voter protection campaign in Michigan, as a poll chaplain. (Courtesy photo)
Faith leaders are making plans to provide a de-escalating presence at the polls months ahead of another deeply contested presidential election in an increasingly polarized country.
Faiths United to Save Democracy, a nonpartisan multiracial group with roots in Black church voter mobilization efforts, is expanding its outreach so participants include clergy and lay people of a variety of religions as well as people with no faith affiliation and members of secular organizations.
On Monday, Catholic nuns, rabbis, and community and labor leaders gathered online to hear a Bible-based introduction in the first of seven “poll chaplain/peacekeeper” virtual training sessions aimed at equipping volunteers to keep the environment calm at polling places, especially in battleground states.
