Earlier today, five speakers from the Colorado Clergy Alliance gathered outside the State Capitol with a crowd of 50 supporters, representing Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Unitarian faith communities. The rally sought to “decry the federal government’s attempts to interfere with election administration and to remove voting rights from eligible voters, because the right to vote and freely elect our leaders is the most foundational democratic right that we have locally here in Colorado,” according to Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher, the co-founder and co-leader of the Colorado Clergy Alliance.
Rev. Dr. Meghan Johnston Aelabouni, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, further explained how the federal government has sought to interfere with voting rights.
“We are growing increasingly concerned about efforts not to secure, but to curtail voting rights across this nation, be it through threats of ICE presence at polling places, fewer voting places, attacks on mail-in voting that reduce voter access, gerrymandering of maps or many other tactics.” Aelabouni further called out the current administration for justifying “a campaign of disenfranchisement that disproportionally harms eligible voters who are black, other people of color, or immigrants.”
This sentiment was backed by the Superintendent of Advocacy and Community Engagement within the United Methodist Church, Rev. Betty Nguyen. “One of the ways that voices and bodies are erased is by limiting and preventing voting or the use of intimidation tactics to discourage the practice of voting.” She said. “The blatant efforts to limit access to eligible voters is staggering. The manipulation of power and use of God’s name in vain to silence others is contrary to the teachings of Jesus.”
Nguyen’s claim is backed by sources such as The Guardian, which has recently found from experts that the Trump administration has engaged in a “broad-front” of attacks against voting rights through actions such as limiting mail-in voting or directing the DOJ to obtain voter data from states, even though elections are run on the state level, not the federal one.
Rabbi Kim Harris, from the Congregation B’nai Chaim, picked up the conversation, encouraging people to stand with the Colorado Clergy Alliance, and to “help others vote. Check your registration, make a plan, know the deadlines, help a neighbor, a student, an elder, or a first-time voter find reliable information about where, when, and how to cast a ballot.” She continued, “We can protect access to the ballot by volunteering with nonpartisan voter registration efforts, serving as a poll worker, supporting voter protection hotlines and poll monitoring … and we can strengthen the culture of democracy in our daily lives.”
The rally closed with a further call to action, offering Democracy Protection Trainings hosted by Together Colorado, a multi-faith organization that works to leave the world a better place for those to come. According to a press release from the Colorado Clergy Alliance, “participants will learn about the role County Clerks and Recorders play in protecting free and fair elections, and how organized communities can hold local election officials accountable to serving every voter. This training series will prepare participants for the months ahead by building the leadership, skills, and relationships needed to protect our democracy.”
The rally was one of the fifteen total “Clergy Protect Our Vote and Democracy” press conferences held in other states across the country, including Michigan and Rhode Island, as part of the national Faith In Us initiative.
