This story was reported and written by our media partner Capital News Service.
Churchgoers spilled out of a bus on a colorful fall Sunday afternoon and headed into the Richmond City Office of Elections to cast a ballot. A young volunteer opened the door, wearing a bright red shirt that read, “Your Vote, Your Voice.”
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy hosted a “Souls to the Polls” event on Oct. 27. Volunteers and staff welcomed early voters and offered free food. The smell of fish and chips wafted through the lot, which was filled with candidate signs.
The VICPP works with Virginians across many religious backgrounds to advocate for racial, social and economic justice issues. The nonpartisanship of the organization allows them to engage in a diverse array of communities, according to Janay Moniz, VICPP administrator.
“For change to also be effective and to be sustainable, you need to have that community to show up, to be visible, to have a civic presence, to be involved – if they want change to reflect their needs and their unique experience because their voice is necessary,” Moniz said.
This was the first time the VICPP hosted Interfaith Souls to the Polls, although it is a longstanding tradition for many churches. Amid the divided political landscape, VICPP hopes to motivate voters of faith to participate in civic engagement.
“Faith is one of the areas in our society that is a haven for people … going through many different things,” Moniz said. “It’s one of the few uniting things that’s left in our society.”
Religious affiliation has declined in America, according to Pew Research Center, but religion still plays a sizable role during election season.
Candidates have rallied voters at churches, and congregations have hosted get out the vote efforts. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has support from a more racially and religiously diverse voter demographic than Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, according to Pew Research Center.
Pastor Criticizes Twisting the Bible to Energize a Base
Del. Michael Jones, D-Richmond, serves in the General Assembly and is a pastor at Village of Faith Ministries.
Religious rhetoric can be a way to “coerce people, manipulate people,” especially in areas with many white evangelicals, and even outside of elections, according to Jones.
“You can't preach Jesus and not preach justice,” Jones said. “You can't preach Jesus and not preach compassion, love for all people. You just can't do it.”
Jones criticized white evangelicals who interpret the message of the Bible in a way that reflects tenets of white supremacy.
“People can twist the Bible to say what they want it to say,” Jones said. “There's no way you can align or say that you're aligned with Jesus and then be aligned with hate, racism, sexism and all these other things. They're incongruent.”
As a Black man and community figure, Jones believes he must empower voters, especially Black voters. He doesn’t believe that anyone should tell voters which candidate to choose.
“I would encourage them: Vote for the one that's not a racist; vote for the one who hasn't oppressed people; vote for the one that you would want to have sitting down at your dinner table; vote for the one that you would want teaching Bible study,” Jones said.
Trump Trends Among White Religious Voters
Pew Research Center found that 82% of white evangelicals and 61% of white Catholics lean toward Trump during this election, while Harris appeals to a more diverse mix of religious voters. White evangelicals who report support for Trump increased by 5 percentage points since 2016, while white Catholic support decreased by 3 percentage points.
Pope Francis did not endorse either candidate because of their stances on abortion and immigration. He encouraged American Catholics to exercise their civic duty and vote for “the lesser of two evils,” according to AP News. Currently, white Catholics favor Trump over Harris.
Stephen Farnsworth is a political science professor and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at Mary Washington University. Candidates connect with voters in any way possible, but especially through religion because it is a substantial part of some voters' lives, according to Farnsworth.
Trump’s core voter base nationally is evangelical Christians who live in rural areas, according to Farnsworth. They are more opposed to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights and tend to lean Republican. Religion helps validate other dynamics to explain a voter’s candidate choice, according to Farnsworth.
Nonevangelical voters may be more inclined to vote for Harris because they “think about Christianity more as a wider range of issues of good works” and don’t focus as much on abortion policy, according to Farnsworth.
“The founders were wise to separate church and state and one of the things that we've seen is how a separation of church and state actually is better for religion than not,” Farnsworth said. “If you think about the ethical gymnastics that an evangelical Christian has to engage in to support someone with Trump's history and lifestyle, you see how getting religion too involved in politics actually can sully religion.”
More Secular Voter Base to Attract
The percentage of Christians has decreased in the U.S., and the percentage of nonreligious people has increased, according to Pew Research Center.
Candidates will have to cater to both secular voters, who find religion unappealing, and religious voters. The differences in policy stances could make it more difficult to appeal to one group or the other, although it is less of a challenge for Republicans, according to Farnsworth.
Richmond resident Laura Corcoran considers herself agnostic. But what most motivates her is what is best for a group, not just the individual – similar to many religions. Her morals are centered around compassion and equal treatment.
Faith is sometimes used to legitimize questionable behavior in the current political landscape, Corcoran said. She hopes people participate in the election.
“If you care about anything, I feel like you should have an opinion one way or the other,” Corcoran said.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Same-day voter registration is allowed.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
