American Humanitst Association Monitor Church Polling Places
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2008
9:57 AM
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CONTACT: American Humanist Association
(202) 238-9088
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Humanists Monitor Church Polling Places
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WASHINGTON, DC - January 31 - The American Humanist Association
announced today that, during the presidential primaries, it is encouraging
its 10,000 members and 110 local chapters and affiliates nationwide to take
special note of those polling places that are set up in churches. "We are on
the lookout for politicized religious propaganda and blatant religious
symbolism that may influence voters," declared American Humanist Association
President Mel Lipman, a civil-liberties attorney and professor of
constitutional law. "We stand ready to take legal action wherever a
religiously charged and politically biased atmosphere is created at the
polls."
Through its legal arm, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, the Association
filed just such a suit in November 2006. The case, Rabinowitz v. Anderson,
involved Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida. Plaintiff Jerry
Rabinowitz had been assigned to vote there and alleged that, to enter the
polling place, he found it necessary to walk past a church-sponsored
"pro-life" banner framed by multiple giant crosses. Then, in the voting area
itself, he observed many religious symbols in plain view, both surrounding
the election officials and in direct line above the voting machines.
Though not prevailing in that case, the legal center has honed its arguments
and vows to relaunch the litigation in another jurisdiction. (Further
details of this case are available online at
http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org/cases/cp/cppressrelease.html.)
Churches are the most common polling locations in America. Some states and
local governments have rules that require the covering of religious symbols
during such use, but others do not. Lack of sensitivity in this matter has
resulted in new complaints, such as one during the Florida primaries last
Saturday where an Ormond Beach resident, voting at Prince of Peace Catholic
Church, declared she was confronted by rows of white crosses symbolizing
"4,000 babies aborted daily in the USA." For the forthcoming Massachusetts
primary, religious symbols at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in West
Boylston were slated to be covered or removed during voting, but that plan
was abandoned when the Secretary of State's office declared no Massachusetts
law requires it.
"We want to protect voters and the voting process from anything that may
serve to intimidate or unduly influence those entering the polls," noted Bob
Ritter, a civil-liberties attorney and legal coordinator for the Appignani
Humanist Legal Center. "America's polling places should be oases of freedom
in a sea of political and social pressure."
Lipman concluded: "Recent studies reveal that environmental cues have a
measurable effect on electoral results. Therefore, the government must
provide a neutral setting for voters, free from religious or other
influences."
The Appignani Humanist Legal Center is part of the American Humanist
Association. Consisting of over two dozen humanist lawyers and backed by
humanists from coast to coast, it is the first nontheistic legal center in
the nation's capital.
The American Humanist Association (www.americanhumanist.org) advocates for
the rights and viewpoints of humanists. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in
Washington, D.C., its work is extended through more than 100 local chapters
and affiliates across America. Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life
that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of
value to self and humanity.
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