Does voting in houses of worship violate church-state separation?

By
  • Willard B. Shapira - University alumnus
November 03, 2010

Am I the only one who is uncomfortable having polling places in houses of worship? It seems to me this is enough of a violation of church-state separation as to be court-tested and, I should hope, prohibited.


Have we run out of schools and community centers so that we need to rely on houses of worship for polling places as was the case temporarily for me when I lived in Southwest Minneapolis a few years ago?


I didn’t like it then and I like it less now with the constantly growing intrusion of various denominations and religious figures into our politics. Why aren’t they prosecuted for violating their tax exempt status? Several years ago, I brought this to the attention of Minnesota’s American Civil Liberties Union —to which I belong — and it didn’t seem to bother them any.


But let’s say there was a ballot initiative about abortion and your polling place was in a house of worship that opposes abortion. Might you feel intimidated when you went there to vote?


I’m interested to see what you all think. But in my estimation, allowing voting in houses of worship is just god-awful.

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