People in swing states and beyond might encounter some new faces at the polls during this year’s midterm elections. They are poll chaplains: clergy who volunteer to be a calming presence, as elected officials face historically high levels of threats and harassment, which could spill over to election workers and voters.
For a few years now, faith groups have stationed poll chaplains during elections in Wisconsin and other swing states, where a small number of votes could make a big difference.
Since 2020, the Wisconsin Council of Churches and the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign, or WIVEC, have run a Poll Chaplains Project. And they’ve been getting ready for this year’s midterms. Here's how to sign up and serve.
Reverend Breanna Illéné is unpacking neon yellow caps and purple vests from boxes. "So each poll chaplain will wear a vest. Just as a kind of identifier of ‘Hey! We’re doing something semi-official!’”
Illéné says there’s lots of effort these days by politicians and others to change rules and influence how elections go.
"Our goal is to be this trusted on-the-ground set of people to say ‘Hey, our elections are safe and our elections are trusted. We are here to vote. And we are here to protect the vote,’" Illéné says.
There's another organization called Faiths United to Save Democracy that's also recruiting in about 10 states. They're looking for people to become a chaplain/peacekeeper.
Karen Hagen is a retired Presbyterian pastor in Milwaukee. She is one of the trained clergy leaders of all faiths that are dispatched to polling places on Election Day as a nonpartisan, peaceful presence.
"It comes up against the false perception that we are not in this together, or that we have to be suspicious of each other, or guard our turf," says Hagen.
One of the groups training the chaplains is the Bridging Divides Initiative, a research organization that works to mitigate political violence in the United States.
Benny Witkovsky is one of the trainers.
"The things we're most concerned about are the things we’re concerned about every year," says Witkovsky. "People being worried about lines being too long, people being frustrated because they don't have the right information about what IDs they need to use, where they're supposed to vote, when they're allowed to vote."
Witkovsky says there are also more troubling concerns, which Bridging Divides has watched escalate over the years. "We've seen election workers have their personal information spread across the internet. We've see election clerks receive threatening messages. We've seen clerks have to take restraining orders out against people in their communities."
There’s also worry, despite the Trump administration’s denial of any such plan, that federal law enforcement could end up at polling places, which could intimidate or deter voters.
"And what we know about the role poll chaplains can play is to be that sort of — those first eyes on the ground," Witkovsky says.
At a voter engagement event on Milwaukee’s heavily Hispanic south side, Rhonda Lindner with WIVEC, the interfaith voters coalition, says clergy are being trained in ICE verification.
"However, in no circumstances do we want our clergy to step into any sort of dangerous activity. We say the first thing they should do is let the election chief at the site know that there might be something going on," explains Lindner. They will also have direct lines to legal hotlines to report voter suppression or intimidation.
This clergy election project is not just designed for Wisconsin’s large urban areas. There are faith leaders participating in the smallest of rural towns — all using their experience of calming and comforting people — to make sure that these midterm elections run as smoothly as possible.
