capsaicin67

I apologize if this has been addressed in a prior thread that I overlooked, but I just found out that my polling station is a church and I am wondering about the constitutionality/legality of that? United Church of Christ, I think [not that it matters a whole lot which one]. In any case, it used to be a Fire Station. I questioned the local branch of the party that I am betrothed to [don't get me started]in order to be eligible to vote, and they said that it was difficult to find accessible polling sites blah, blah, blah..... I was very specific as to my reservations about that little scenario.
To me, its fairly disturbing and is another implicit endorsement of religion in general and xianity in particular. Surprise, surprise. So feel free to weigh in with rants about that, too.
But, any ideas and opinions out there as to the legality of this?

beejay

I'll be going to vote at the methodist (?) church in my precinct. Such arrangements are common in Indiana, if not most states.

I don't see this as a problem...

It would be a problem if:
1. The churches were compensated above "market value" for the use of the space.
2. Churches were selected over more suitable places.
3. There was some excessive religious involvement in the voting process. (The waiting room was the sanctuary, etc.)

I guess I can see your possible unease (what if the "best" place in my precinct were the KKK meeting hall?)...

But the way it works here, it really seems more to the state's benefit to make it easy to have polling places in each precinct. If there isn't school available, I'm not sure where the polling place would be?

dangin

Mine is the public library, but church polling places are extremely common in Kansas. They have parking, they are open anyway, and they have space. I don't see it as a problem. Particularly because there are laws against campaigning anywhere near a polling place, so it actually forces the church to be non partisan.

butswana

It makes things alot easier. Churches are everywhere, so you can have more polling locations. If voting was like going to the DMV or Social Security office, fewer people would vote than do already.

GaryP

My voting place is also a church and I do have some "issues" with that.

It is in a church basement and one has to walk the entire length of the hall to get to the polling room.

Along the way, there are numerous bulletin boards and such that contain the usual xian propaganda.

A couple of years ago, there was a poster displayed decrying abortion. What if one of the big issues in , say, a senate campaign was abortion? Could this not at least remind some voters how much they dislike candidate X because he/she is pro-choice?

There are probably other issues which could possibly be seen as partisan if looked at from a certain viewpoint.

It may be convenient but I would rather be able to vote, in this secualar country, at a secular venue.

zorq

I personally don't trust churches very much. I don't think that I would trust them with custody of ballot box without supervision. They usually have supervision, but...

capsaicin67

It's kinda funny what seems significant to different people. I think that it is wrong on a number of levels.

I think it blatantly implies an endorsement of religion as a necessary and constructive part of the community, and it fosters a sense of dependence of govt on these churches because of their "convenience". It also strikes me that it simply is one more example for the public that the overlap of church and state are actually benign at worst, and mutually benficial at best. And that church and state overlap are a part of our "tradition" that troublemakers and heathens want to challenge and destroy in other scenarios. And I agree with GaryP that there are other partisan issues that this unfortunate scenario has an impact on ---the various legislative agendas that xians and others aggressively endorse.

Seems like it would be the right thing, if not the easiest, to make a it a priority to find another solution if its is being done out of convenience. I'll grant you, it seems like about as useful a purprose as most churches encounter during the course of a year.

The fire station seemed better to me, tho the parking was challenging. But schools seem a better choice. And if it meant changing the election day to one that would allow this [one that would minimize conflicts with the school's activities] it might have 2 additional benefits: a Saturday would allow more people to vote, and it would be a much more positive and constructive message as a civics lesson to students that this is as important as sports tourneys etc. Maybe there's some reason I don't get why this wouldn't be more appropriate.

I'm not ready to storm city hall with a pitchfork or anything, but that's just my opinion.

Arrowman

You guys really need to have your elections on Saturdays. I've always been mystified why Tuesday (?) is the day in the US.

That said, having elections on Saturdays might reduce the need to use churches (eg by making schools available) but not necessarily remove it. Certainly in Australia churches are still used, as well as schools etc.

In which case - is it an issue? * shrug * I don't see it as a particularly big deal. Certainly in a lot of cases (especially small towns) the local church hall might be, if not the only option, maybe the best - why should it be eliminated from consideration?

Arrowman
who always votes at the local school, because he's afraid the font will boil over if he goes in to the church

beejay

Voting IS done in schools here. However, there is a requirement that the voting takes place in the individual precincts, and there aren't enough schools to cover all the precincts. Even if fire stations were added (although the layout of our fire stations would make it difficult to find the space and the parking), we would still need additional places to vote.

capsaicin67

I went to church for the first time in years! Hallelujah! The voting was set up in a large conference-type room, FACING a large cheesey mural with a large caption beneath it stating something about heaven and god [sorry, my brain has repressed the actual words].

I understand that there appear to be some pragmatic issues surrounding this, but I still see that as all the more significant. The most fundamental and "sacred" act of democracy by the citizenry, the voting process itself, is dependent on churches. This plays right into the hands of the people that promote a the idea that church and govt overlap are all part of the great American tradition. Interesting problem.