Father Paul Kane of St. Paul’s Episcopal worked four hours on Nov. 3 at the South County Civic Center. Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
Ensuring a person’s right to vote in a presidential election usually doesn’t fall to the local priest, but Father Paul Kane of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach regarded it as his responsibility.
“Although it’s not appropriate to be partisan in the pulpit,” Kane said, “I would do my congregation and my vows a disservice if I didn’t speak about their moral responsibility to vote.”
In October, he took it a step further. The initiative Lawyers and Collars was recruiting pastors in nine states to act as polling place chaplains, and Kane signed up.
Hundreds of clergy members were trained to support voters by watching for voter suppression, answering questions about voters’ rights and deescalating any conflicts. Organizers also hoped that the presence of clergy in clerical collars would calm people at polling places if they became emotional hot spots.
The Rev. Stephanie Spellers of the Episcopal diocese said the pastors wouldn’t have any specific responsibilities or duties, but would provide a nonpartisan “peaceful and prayerful presence.” Kane volunteered for a four-hour shift on Nov. 3.
In preparation, he attended a training webinar on his responsibilities as an “election protection volunteer chaplain,” but says it was less about protection and more about providing moral support and encouragement to voters.
“The training emphasized that we were not poll watchers or poll watchdogs working for a partisan cause, but rather, we were there to provide a moral presence, help voters, and record any relevant interactions. I was assigned to serve in the morning and early afternoon at the South County Civic Center in west Delray Beach.”
The Lawyers and Collars initiative began after the Supreme Court, in 2013, struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that protected voters from suppression tactics like excessive identification requirements or redistricting without notification.
Experts say the restriction of voting rights disproportionately affects people of color and young people.
In response, Sojourners, Skinner Leadership Institute, and the National African American Clergy Network partnered to combat tactics that compromise democracy at the polls. They began Lawyers and Collars to educate African American clergy in ways to ensure all eligible members of their communities can vote.
This year, nine states had training and assignments for clergy: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In some communities the threat of violence was real, but Kane wasn’t concerned about that and certainly didn’t experience any. The only negative, he said, was some people showed up to vote at the Civic Center only to find that wasn’t their polling place.
Kane and the poll workers, “who could not have been more helpful,” sent them on their way with encouraging words.
“It was a really pleasant experience,” Kane said. “With all of the rhetoric and vitriol that we saw leading up to Election Day, the goodwill of the voters, poll workers and employees affirmed my belief in the fundamental goodness of most people.
“I left the polling place feeling uplifted and hopeful.”
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.
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