Gratitude and Confidence on Election Day
Voting is a sacred privilege that we too often take for granted. It's important that voters trust the election process.
I’ve been busy working on my latest book, due out next September, from Broadside Books. It’s a defense of patriotism. My basic thesis is that it’s good and right for faithful Christians to love America, provided we properly order that love. In recent years, I think many have been ambivalent about patriotism or wondering what exactly that looks like. I’ll also explore such ideas as the Christian roots of America, how to think about the good and bad in our history, etc. In the last section, I offer ways Christian patriots can help renew the country.
I’ve also been thinking about voting and elections. I don’t think we have enough gratitude for the privilege of having a small part in choosing those who serve in public office. This year I’ve been speaking quite a bit about this to churches, group of pastors, and the media.
It’s no secret to readers of this newsletter where my political affiliations lie. I’m a three-stool Reagan conservative whose voting patterns tend to line up with Republicans. But I think regardless of where your vote goes, you should care about our elections and care about trust in the process of our elections.
Recent surveys show that Americans’ trust in our elections has eroded significantly. For many Republican voters, there is a sense of unfairness and fraud. For many Democratic voters, there is a sense of voter suppression and a perceived effort to keep minority voters away from the polls.
The truth is much more complicated. Many of the allegations of malfeasance in the 2020 election was proven to be untrue. Lawsuits filed based on the 2020 re-election campaign have lost overwhelmingly in the courts, including cases brought before conservative judges. What’s more, the allegations of deliberate vote-rigging by electronic machines have been proven false as well, as revealed in the successful lawsuits by Dominion against media companies. And even the campaign’s own lawyers have admitted, under oath, that many claims of fraud were wrong.
At the same time, the overheated claims of voter suppression by Democrats and some in the media have also been demonstrated as hyperbolic and fallacious. For instance, there has been much outcry about voter ID laws that require showing a valid ID in order to vote. But not only has this shown to not suppress voting by minorities, minorities themselves don’t see it as unnecessarily restrictive. This debate came to a climax in the state of Georgia, after they passed a new set of electoral reforms, championed by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, who has refuted false claims from both parties. President Biden irresponsibly labled these changes “Jim Crow 2.0.” Major League baseball foolishly caved to pressure and moved the 2021 All-Star game out of Atlanta. Yet, the 2022 election proved these claims wrong as voter turnout, including minority voter turnout, came in at an all-time high.
It's bad for democracy when politicians to fan the flames of mistrust in our elections, but the fears of everyday voters are rooted in some genuine suspicion and mistrust. Republicans have a legitimate right to cry fowl over the suppression of information about Hunter Biden’s laptop by tech companies and the FBI. And Democrats claims of suppression might not have merit in 2023, but they draw on a history of actual voter suppression in the 20th century under Jim Crow.
So how should Christians think about our elections? We should first be faithful to exercise our right as citizens and vote. Secondly, we need discernment when it comes to spurious allegations and dubious claims when our preferred candidate loses. We are bound by a commitment to “whatsoever is true (Philippians 4:8).” It’s often hard to accept the harsh reality, after a lost election, that our side might not have made the most persuasive case.
This loss of confidence in our elections is one symptom of the widespread loss of trust in our key institutions in public life, an erosion that is not entirely unfounded. To rebuild trust, we need leaders and institutions to demonstrate greater transparency and less self-interest.
Still there is more we can do. We can participate in the elections themselves. Elections are remarkably local affairs, conducted and made possible by locally elected officials and an army of volunteers. I just recently voted on a series of referenda and constitutional amendments here in Texas. I drove to a nearby Baptist church, which served as a polling place, and was greeted by helpful volunteers who helped me exercise my right to be heard on important issues.
According to a recent survey, there is a significant need for poll workers, whose average age is climbing with every election. Helping to facilitate free and fair elections is a great way for Christians to love their neighbor and ensure that the process is fair and free. This is something churches can do that is non-partisan and helps engage the community. Already many houses of worship serve as polling places, but imagine if, in 2024, millions of church members rolled up their sleeves and offered to serve their country in the most basic way: making it possible for citizens to make their voices heard.
Politics can be messy and often dispiriting, but we should remember that the opportunity to shape who holds power in our communities, our cities, and our country is a privilege not afforded to much of the world. It’s a blessed right secured not easily, but with the blood and sacrifice of so many who have fought for our freedoms. So let’s do what we can, in our time, to ensure this right endures.
My book Agents of Grace is available from Zondervan.