election2020
People protest attempts to throw out ballots cast at drive-through polling locations in Houston, Texas on November 2, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare
The Electoral College has racist origins. Southern states were granted votes for three-fifths of their slave populations, even though those enslaved people were themselves unable to vote. This effectively gave white southerners an outsized influence on the electoral process until the end of the Jim Crow era. Today, the system favors voters in a small group of battleground states at the expense of most Americans and over-represents white voters while ignoring many voters of color. A growing chorus of legal and policy experts, along with the majority of Americans, believe it should change. However, the Electoral College’s racist legacy has also impacted efforts to change it.
Election worker processes mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day in Houston. Nov. 2, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, mail-in voting has increased drastically in the 2020 election. Of the almost 100 million votes cast before Election Day, nearly 64 million of those were mail-in ballots. Though states have different rules and methods for mail-in ballots, voters across the country encountered a new question this election: “How do I know my vote was counted?”
Demonstrators at an interfaith rally in Philadelphia in August 2017. Photo: Michael Candelori / Shutterstock.com
According to a recent survey, nearly 70 percent of people in the U.S. are worried voters will be harassed or intimidated on Election Day; the same survey found that more than three-quarters of Americans worry there will not be a peaceful transition of power after the election. But community leaders and clergy are determined to avoid a violent outcome.
A woman decorates her car at an event encouraging community members to vote at an early voting site in Houston, Oct. 25, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare/File Photo
While groups like CatholicVote and others have narrowed in on pro-life, pro-Trump messaging, many other Catholic groups are urging Catholics to think more holistically when they enter the voting booth. “Pro-life,” they argue, extends to honoring the dignity all life from the womb to the tomb, which behooves voters to consider issues like health care, housing, education, racism, climate justice, migration, and criminal justice reform while voting.
Pearl Wright and her granddaughter, Kayin Coward, 11, chant "count every vote" outside the federal courthouse in Houston, Nov. 2, 2020. REUTERS/Julio Cesar-Chavez
"It shouldn't be hard to vote in America in 2020, even with a pandemic."
A line of cars drive in for an event encouraging community members to vote in the upcoming presidential election at an early voting site in Houston, Oct. 25, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare/File Photo
On Oct. 31, a coalition of faith groups worked together to launch a sign-on letter calling on faith leaders to condemn the effort to toss more than 100,000 Harris County ballots, saying counting every vote “matters in the eyes of our state, our country, and our God.” The sign-on process is hosted by Vote Common Good, a national organization encouraging Christian voters to vote Trump out.
Law enforcement officers spray protesters shortly after a moment of silence during a Get Out The Vote march in Graham, N.C., Oct. 31, 2020. Anthony Crider/Handout via REUTERS
Peaceful participants at a rally in a small North Carolina city to turn out the vote ahead of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election were pepper-sprayed by law enforcement officials on Saturday, according to videos broadcast online and witnesses.
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
As Election Day nears, one thing is clear: We all need as many prayers as possible. After you vote, while you wait in line to vote, or while you anxiously tune in as votes are tallied, here are places that you can pray on Election Day.
A person wearing a finger sack points at an "I Voted" sticker after casting ballot for the upcoming presidential election in Houston, Oct. 13, 2020. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
Through Thursday, 9,009,850 have voted so far this year, with one day of early voting left. That amounts to 53 percent of registered voters. In 2016, 8,969,226 Texans cast a ballot in the presidential race.
A person casts his ballot for the upcoming presidential election during early voting in Sumter, S.C., Oct. 9, 2020. REUTERS/Micah Green/File Photo
Racism is on the ballot next week. Democracy is on the ballot next week. These two things two are inextricably linked because racism has disfigured American democracy from the founding of our nation. The road to a more perfect union has been long and uneven. And this road requires that we continually become a more perfect democracy and more just nation. And while our democracy will never be perfect, we must continually defend the rights, institutions, and laws that help safeguard our freedoms and advance the common good. Increasingly this election represents a test of whether we embrace and will work to realize a truly inclusive, multiracial democracy with liberty and justice for all.
Rev. Jim Wallis speaks with the founder and director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, John Carr.
President Donald Trump and former Vice President John Biden at the first presidential debate, Sept. 29, 2020. Image via Shutterstock.com
In the 2020 election cycle, most of the Democratic primary candidates provided videos, including Vice President Joe Biden. The Christian leaders in the Circle of Protection have asked for a video and/or statement on poverty policy from President Trump, but his campaign has not responded to repeated requests.
Members of Extinction Rebellion perform in New York City on October 24, 2020. Photo: lev radin / Shutterstock.com
Here’s some hopeful news: Voters are turning out in droves across the country in advance of next Tuesday’s election. According to the United States Elections Project, as of Oct. 28, more than 74,000,000 Americans have voted: that’s more than half of the total votes counted in the 2016 election. Cities like Chicago are breaking their early voting records. New York City’s overwhelmed poll centers added additional hours for the weekend before Election Day. Youth voter turnout is up overall, and Texas is leading with the biggest youth vote participation in the country.
The group Nuns and Nones gathers virtually for get-out-the-vote efforts. Image via screenshot from their Every Vote Is Sacred video.
Behind the scenes, in prayer, organizing, poll-working, and demonstrating, Catholic sisters are participating in a milieu of ways that haven’t gone viral.
An election worker places mail-in ballots into a voting box at a drive-through drop off location at the Registrar of Voters for San Diego County in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt setbacks to Republicans by allowing extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in next Tuesday's election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states pivotal to President Donald Trump's re-election chances.
The Supreme Court of the United States is seen in Washington, D.C., Aug. 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request by President Donald Trump's campaign to block North Carolina's extension of the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots in the latest voting case ahead of Tuesday's election.
Photo courtesy of Loose the Chains.
“Nine times out of 10, we’ll just be greeting people and passing out water and snacks,” said Billy Michael Honor, who directs Loose the Chains, the faith engagement initiative of The New Georgia Project “But in the event that something does happen, it’s good to have people there who know how to lead people in situations of conflict or crisis.”
Elijah Moss, Rev. Otis Moss Jr., and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III are pictured filming for Otis' Dream. Image courtesy Otis Moss III.
In an effort to call faith-based communities to action during the 2020 election season, his grandson Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, pastor of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, shares his family’s story in the 14-minute film, Otis’ Dream.
Demonstrators take part in an interfaith rally in Philadelphia in 2017. Photo: Michael Candelori / Shutterstock.com
People of diverse faiths have a moral obligation to protect the integrity of the election. Right this minute, people all across the country are voting early or by mail, or making plans to vote in person. As religious and spiritual leaders, we are prepared to take to the streets peacefully if it becomes clear that votes are not being counted or if a legitimate election outcome is being subverted.
Chris has attended the same local church for five years. When services went remote due to the coronavirus pandemic, Chris and his partner noticed paid staff of the church sharing misinformation about hydroxychloroquine on social media. Chris hoped that the church leadership, including the pastor, would push back.