More Than 1,200 Poll Chaplains Will Stand Outside Voting Sites Tuesday. Peacemakers Must Keep Their Hands Off the Scale.

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

When voters in nine states head to the polls on Tuesday, some will see clergy members in vests or hats standing outside. They are poll chaplains, volunteers who plan to offer a calm presence and help voters who run into trouble. Faiths United in Saving Democracy, which calls itself a nonpartisan coalition, had recruited 1,235 poll chaplains and peacekeepers as of Oct. 19, co-founder Barbara Williams-Skinner said, the Associated Press reported.

The volunteers will serve in Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Virginia and Texas. They will stay outside polling places and wear identifying hats and vests. Training covers immigrant rights, de-escalation and phone numbers to call in tense situations, according to the AP.

Who is taking part

Williams-Skinner said the effort is strongly rooted in the Black church and has grown to include other faiths and non-religious people. While most participating groups are moderate or progressive, she said the initiative is strictly nonpartisan. "We don't get hung up on who's moderate or who's conservative. People just need to be able to vote, unafraid," she said, according to the AP.

In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Council of Churches and the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign have run a poll chaplain project since 2020. Karen Hagen, a retired Presbyterian pastor in Milwaukee, is among the volunteers. Benny Witkovsky, who trains chaplains for the Bridging Divides Initiative, said the most common concerns are ordinary ones, such as long lines and voters who are unsure what ID to bring, NPR reported.

The National Latino Evangelical Coalition has started its own program of poll chaplains drawing on local pastors. "We don't work for the Democrats," Pastor Gabriel Salguero said. "We don't work for the Republicans," The Christian Post reported, citing CBN News.

Why now

Organizers point to rising tension. A Pew survey taken after the September 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk found that 85% of Americans believe political violence is on the rise, the AP reported. Witkovsky said election workers have had personal information spread online and some clerks have taken out restraining orders, according to NPR.

Some organizers also worry that immigration agents could appear at polling sites. Homeland Security officials have consistently said they have no plans to send immigration agents to the polls, although Secretary Markwayne Mullin said agents could show up for a specific reason, such as arresting someone with a warrant, the AP reported. Chaplains are trained not to step into danger and to alert the election chief at the site first, NPR reported.

Dock Line has also explained who may help voters inside the polls in Texas: Need Help Voting Tuesday? Who Texas Law Lets Assist You at the Polls.

Opinion: Peacemakers must keep their hands off the scale

A pastor standing quietly outside a polling place, ready to calm an angry voter or encourage a nervous one, is a good thing. Christians are called to be peacemakers. Scripture says, "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." In a season when many Americans fear political violence, a calm presence can help.

But peacemaking only works if it is fair. The organizers themselves admit that most participating groups lean moderate or progressive, and part of the training addresses fears about federal agents. Voters who see a chaplain in a vest should be able to trust that the chaplain would help a Republican in a MAGA hat as quickly as anyone else. A chaplain who quietly takes sides is not a peacemaker. He is a campaigner in a clerical collar.

Conservative churches should not leave this work to others. If there is a polling place near your church, consider offering coffee, water and prayer to every voter in line, whatever sign is in their yard. Follow your state's distance rules, and leave the election to the election workers.

The ballot box is not sacred, but the people standing in line are made in the image of God. Treat every one of them that way on Tuesday.