Poll Chaplains and Peacekeepers

Poll Chaplains and Peacekeepers have proven effective in the last two elections.

This column is co-written by Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-coordinator of Faiths United to Save Democracy, CEO and co-founder of the Skinner Leadership Institute, co-convener of the National African American Clergy Network.

Voter protection and even safety is increasingly an issue in our upcoming election.  A Brennan Center poll of local election officials released on May 1, 2024, said “a vast majority have taken steps since 2020 to protect voters, election workers, and election infrastructure from threats and violence in 2024.” 

The threats are real. Members of the former President Trump’s campaign team in Hillsdale, Michigan, asked attendees at an America First Republicans meeting to be “troops in the trenches” and “poll challengers” in this year’s election. In Sanford, North Carolina, the local Republican party chair trained poll watchers to be “assertive” and “aggressive.”

Meanwhile, militant right wing Christian nationalist groups that support Trump, like the New Apostolic Reformation network, who say “demons” have taken over Democrats and Kamala Harris who they compare to the evil woman Jezebel in the Bible. Their doctrine is Christian Dominion, proposing a Seven Mountain strategy to take over religion, family, government, education, business, media, arts and entertainment. And they also have a strategy for the polls on election day–boasting at their rallies that they have a plan to install their people  “like Trojan Horses” who will infiltrate voting sites disguised as poll workers or monitors. They are calling cheering crowds in swing states to be “God appointed warriors” to do whatever is necessary to win this election. But if and when their Trojan Horse warriors show up they might be surprised to find faithful “Poll Chaplains” who are also trained to be “Peacemakers,” the ones whom Jesus calls “the children of God” in the gospel of Matthew 5:8.

I, and likeminded clergy, have created Faiths United to Save Democracy, a nonpartisan multi-racial, multi-faith, and multi-generational campaign that is bringing together white and Black pastors, Rabbis, Imams, and people of faith ordained or not. So far, we have trained over 900 Poll Chaplains and Peacekeepers in battleground states such AZ, GA, MI, NC, PA, WI, OH, TX, FL, AL and we’ve focused on placing them in poor and minority neighborhoods where threats of intimidation and violence at polling places are greatest. 

We train Poll Chaplains and Peacekeepers to be ready for any voter process of procedural issues that might come up, or help voters who run into problems while trying to vote. We also train them to connect with other election protection groups like Common Cause, NAACP, League of Women Voters to develop camaraderie among those assisting voters. And, especially now, Poll Chaplains and peacekeepers are trained in detail for how they might respond to any threats and dangers of violence with practical steps and actions that can be taken to shift from negative to positive energy. How to make eye contact, how to position yourself, how to be firm but not confrontational, how to enter into calming conversations, how to respond to conflict if it occurs, are all part of our training.

Poll Chaplains and Peacekeepers have proven effective in the last two elections. Bishop Claude Alexander reported to me that when an armed white man stood alongside Black voters waiting in line in Charlottesville, North Carolina during the 2020 election, he in his robe and other clergy in collars intervened and led the men away. Reverend Donta McGilvery in Phoenix, Arizona, told us how their Poll Chaplains created a dialogue about faith and voting when a group of shouting white voters demanded of other voters “did you vote Christian or not?” When a pickup truck with a Confederate Flag filled with armed white men parked outside a Detroit elementary school that served as a polling place, Rev. Dr. Steve Bland Jr. described to us how Black men in clergy collars surrounded the truck and persuaded the intimidators to leave. The pattern of armed men at polling places being confronted by unarmed men with collars seems to be a recurring  pattern. Fearful voters have reported to us that they felt safer when they learned that clergy would be at polling places–which is now being planned by many local groups around the country.

A Scripture that inspires many faiths is the foundation for this campaign. It comes from the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis 1;26 which teaches us all humankind–all of us–are created in the image and likeness of God, imago dei, and we start all our training with that iconic biblical text. For us, voter protection is not just political, but theological, to respect the dignity of every person who comes to vote. We believe that any suppression or subversion of any person’s vote, because of the color of their skin, their economic status, their political views, or any other reason, is nothing less than an assault on imago dei, the image of God. And that is our call to action. We can’t control polls, but we can decide to come help and serve at polling places which could become scary and dangerous places for this election. You can still sign up in your state by going to www.turnoutsunday.com. to help ensure free, fair, and safe elections in this critical moment in our nation’s history.