From the AHA: Be Vigilant on Election Day!

[TechBear_Seattle]

I got this message from the American Humanist Association in my email this afternoon and wanted to share it.

Be Vigilant on Election Day!

Please vote in Tuesday's presidential, congressional and local elections and help raise your personal voice in the public square! Civic participation is critical if we are to develop the influence we need to make a difference in the public debate on the issues that matter most.

Especially now, this election offers an opportunity to make a difference. In particular, we're asking you to pay special attention to your local polling place.

If you are one of many humanists whose polling place is in a church, synagogue or temple, please take notes on your experience and e-mail them to our Appignani Humanist Legal Center coordinator Bob Ritter at [e-mail].

When houses of worship are used as polling places, obvious religious symbols and posters favoring a religious position within the voting area should be covered up so that no voter feels intimidated or that she or he is an outsider. Also, church leaders and members are forbidden to proselytize at the polls. Yet we have reason to believe that these rules aren't always being followed.

Let's make sure everyone has the right to vote their own conscience, free from religious coercion. Share with the AHA your observations, any religious statements that you heard by poll workers or any one affiliated with the church, and especially any pictures you may have taken of outside or inside the polling area (pictures inside the polling room may require the consent of an election official or should be taken the day before or after the election). Send your observations and photos to Bob Ritter at [e-mail]. EVIDENCE IS CRUCIAL. We would also suggest that you call your supervisor of elections to request that any religious signs and/or icons be covered up.

Start preparing for a more humanist future by supporting this effort of the American Humanist Association! (https://www.americanhumanist.org/secure/contribute.php)

[cosmik debris]

1. I always vote in a church

And they always remove all signs of their religion.

We had our precinct caucus in that church and the Precinct Chairperson stood at the same podium used for a thousand sermons. But there was not a single sign of any religious icon or symbol.

Waco is not as backward as its stereotype.

[onager]

2. You help destroy an old Fundie argument.

American churches were used as secular meeting places (and polling places) since Colonial Days. Usually for a very practical reason--the church was the only building big enough to hold the assembled citizenry.

Tools like David Barton are always trying to make a big deal about George Washington being a "vestryman" in his local church.

That probably meant Washington was just looking after his investment portfolio. Churches were also used as courthouses, where deeds, records of land transfers, and other legal documents were stored.