FAITH COMMITTEE

Our society and political landscape has become more divisive and partisan than ever before. In situations of anxiety, tensions can easily rise. To keep voters safe, we must be prepared to de-escalate intimidating actors. We believe that faith leaders and social workers are uniquely and ideally situated to act as Peacekeepers and can maintain a calm and peaceful presence that will help defuse tensions which may otherwise lead to conflict.

 

In 2020, we piloted a new Peacekeepers at the Polls program to proactively address threats of intimidation and violence at the polls. We partnered with our faith network to activate religious leaders to be on call to de-escalate tense situations and keep everyone safe at the polls. Coordinators of the Peacekeeper program included: Crazy Faith Ministries, Faith in Public Life, the Ohio Council of Churches, and Universalist Unitarian Justice Ohio. We also utilized NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio and Planned Parenthood to recruit abortion clinic escorts, as well as the Ohio affiliate of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-OH) to recruit social workers in this effort. Together we successfully trained over 150 Peacekeeping volunteers from across the state and deployed them to early vote centers and polling locations as we learned of planned rallies or received reports of intimidating behavior. They were helpful in acting as a buffer between voters and harassing conduct, particularly at the Franklin County Early Vote Center, where anti-abortion protesters were intimidating voters.