An interesting conundrum.St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda is asking priests in Minnesota to forgo voting in the presidential primary election on Tuesday over concerns about the privacy of voter party preferences.Hebda wrote about his concerns in a letter to priests this week ahead of Super Tuesday on March 3, the first presidential primary in Minnesota in nearly 30 years. Under the new system, voters must request the party ballot they want — either Democratic or Republican — and that preference is recorded and sent to the chairs of all four majority political parties in the state.There are no specifications in law about what the parties can — or cannot — do with that data. "It could be seen as 'partisan' political activity to align oneself with a party and to vote in its primary, which the Church generally discourages clergy from doing for evangelical reasons, more so than tax ones," read Hebda's letter to clergy.It's not the first complaint from faith groups about the new system, which also requires voters to pledge "general agreement with the principles of the party" whose ballot they pick...
"Counseling the avoidance of partisan political activity helps ensure that the priest retains an identity as a credible witness of the Gospel," MCC Executive Director Jason Adkins said in a statement. "Especially in light of the political polarization and identity politics of today, the ability of a priest to form consciences for faithful citizenship depends, in part, on his ability to transcend the partisan divide and not have his catechesis tainted by the suspicion of partisanship."
29 February 2020
Minnesota priests advised to abstain from voting in Democratic primary
And there's a good reason for doing so:
I'd argue that to sit out the current political moment shows a lack of conscience.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify - the predicament applies only to the primary, not to the general election. So you think they should publicly reveal their political affiliations?
DeleteI don't see why not -- a priest is still a human being and a citizen and has a right to a vote like anyone else. I would be furious though if any priest voted for Trump knowing, as they do, that he literally embodies all of the Seven Deadly Sins and actively hurts the poor, the sick, the young, and the old -- considering "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” and all that. Sadly, religion does not automatically make someone a good or moral person.
DeletePerhaps you're answering your own "why not" question. If you knew that your priest was a registered Republican (but you don't know if he is a Trump supporter specifically), would that alter your view of him?
DeleteMy impression is that individuals wouldn't necessarily know what the political orientation of each priest is, only "the chairs of all four majority political parties in the state" -- so it seems to me that individuals would have to do some serious digging to see which individual priest was planning to vote for which party in the primary.
DeleteI suppose the party leaders could leak that info but can't really see either party getting much of an advantage by exposing the party preference of priests; it would seem to be a pretty bad PR move.
In any case, said priests could conceivably claim to be be doing what the GOP openly encouraged Republicans to do in open primary states -- i.e., voting for the weakest Democrat in the field (Trump specified Bernie), so the Democrats have to put up a weak contender against Trump.
Just my two cents. I'm atheist, so I don't really have a dog in this fight.
Even as an atheist, you do have a dog in the fight, because whenever Americans are in effect disenfranchised from participation in the voting system, the democratic process is weakened or distorted.
Deletei wonder if that ties in with this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.irs.gov/newsroom/charities-churches-and-politics Charities, Churches and Politics - The ban on political campaign activity by charities and churches was created by Congress more than a half century ago. The Internal Revenue Service administers the tax laws written by Congress and has enforcement authority over tax-exempt organizations.
I-)
It absolutely ties in with that. If a church publicly advocates for or against specific politicians, they risk having their tax-exempt status revoked.
DeleteHas congress or the IRS *ever* revoked tax-exempt status for this? Evangelical churches today are flaunting their political endorsements and activism. They're daring the government to take action and no action is being taken.
DeleteAs it says in the article, in Minnesota (and presumably some other states), to vote in a primary election, you have to request a ballot, which is recorded as being given to you. There is no record of who you voted for, but there will be a record that you Kolo Jezdec voted in the Democratic primary. That information is given to the political parties. They may or may not share it with others like your boss.
ReplyDeleteUmm, Jesus did not "vote" and said his followers were not part of the political system. In fact, he physically got away when they wanted to make him King. So... all these arguments are moot for a Christian.
ReplyDeleteSo many aspects of the American electoral system are puzzling to people from the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteThey're puzzling as hell for Americans too. We have an insane patchwork of rules and standards and even methods of voting from state to state to state. And then we have gerrymandering, which perverts the intent of voters (in some states, Democrats have overwhelmingly won by vote count but because of the ways the voting districts are drawn, all the seats go to Republicans!) And then you have the archaic travesty of the Electoral College, a leftover from when slave-owners wanted an outsized influence on elections because 1. They considered themselves America's aristocrats and superior to everyone else, so they should be able to pick the president they wanted over the wishes of the great unwashed and 2. They owned huge tracts of land but had only a few voters (since neither women nor slaves could vote) so they further subverted the will of the people. Sigh.
Deletesimple solution ... vote as an INDEPENDENT
ReplyDeleteIf the priest chooses to be an independent, then he can't vote in either party's primary. That's the same as abstaining from voting.
DeleteSame problem in Texas: you must vote in either the Democratic or the Republican primary. In the general election you get the ballot with both parties' candidates and the Independents, but not in the primaries. When I work the election on Super Tuesday, I will receive from the county a list of eligible voters. Those who have voted early or by mail will be marked as Republican Early Voter or Democratic Early Voter.
ReplyDeleteThis is primary and party for the smallest state and the longest name:
ReplyDeleteRhode Island has a 'semi-closed' party primary system. This means that you may only vote in your party's primary, but if you are registered as "Unaffiliated" you may vote in the primary of any party you choose. Once you vote in a primary, however, you are considered a member of that party until and unless you "disaffiliate". You may do this by signing a "Change of Party Designation" form at the polling place after you vote or by submitting a new voter registration form at any time. The disaffiliation takes effect in 90 days. If you indicated a party preference when you registered to vote, you may only vote in that party's primary. If you wish to vote in another party's primary, you must disaffiliate at least 90 days before the primary date.
And are your name and address and affiliation shared with party officials? Are there any privacy guarantees?
DeleteIn the state with the longest name, the public voter registration record includes your name, address, party affiliation, when you voted, and some other things.
DeleteJust to give you an idea of how "public record" voting is in the state that was the first to declare independence from the king and the last to join the "United States": when you come in to vote, you go to a table where you now show your ID, the person there looks you up in the list of registered voters and announces your name - and not sotto voce, but loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room - you then step over to the other person at the table, where you sign; then you receive your ballot.
DeleteTip, admittedly from a naive immigrant from a country where non of this nonsense exists: Get involved and demand better.
ReplyDeleteDemand better from your state reps. Mail them. Call them. Write them. Again and again and again. Keep an eye on whether they take action during the (often absurdly short) legislative sessions.
If not, tell them you're gonna vote for anyone who opposes them in the next primary.
And don't let them fool you with arguments about taxes or school systems. These things are at the very heart of your democraZy.
They are uniquely American. No other country has this nonsense. You should demand and get better from your elected officials.
However, they won't change the system that elected them until they're forced to do so.