Jewish clergy join multifaith effort to prevent voter intimidation and help ensure Americans can cast their ballots safely and without fear.
NEW YORK – As Americans prepare to head to the polls on Tuesday, 80 rabbis and cantors across the country are joining a nationwide effort to promote peaceful, safe and accessible elections. Through T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and Faiths United to Save Democracy, Jewish clergy will serve as poll chaplains, providing a calming presence at polling locations and helping voters exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot without fear or intimidation.
The poll chaplains are part of a broader, nonpartisan multifaith initiative bringing religious leaders together to support voters and election workers. Participating clergy receive training in de-escalation and peaceful intervention, preparing them to help defuse tensions, offer reassurance to voters and respond appropriately to potential incidents of intimidation or harassment.
Working alongside fellow volunteers and in coordination with local election officials, poll chaplains will be present at designated polling locations, including communities where concerns about voter intimidation are particularly acute. Their presence is intended to help ensure that every eligible voter, regardless of political affiliation, can participate in the democratic process freely and safely.
“Every person deserves to walk into a polling place, cast their ballot and return home without fear of harassment or intimidation,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah. “Jewish tradition teaches us that every human being possesses inherent dignity and that we have a responsibility to stand up for justice. On Election Day, rabbis and cantors across the country will put those values into practice by standing alongside voters and helping ensure that intimidation has no place in our democracy.”
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, a poll chaplain spending the day supporting voters in Philadelphia, said, “Serving as a poll chaplain reminds me that building community doesn’t always mean solving a problem or responding to a crisis. Sometimes it means standing at the door, smiling at a stranger, offering a little help, celebrating with someone, and bearing witness to the shared act of showing up.”
Rabbi Nina Mandel, serving as a poll chaplain in Harrisburg, PA, said: “I decided to become a poll chaplain because of my father. When I was a kid, he would take me with him to vote and would tell me this was the most important right and responsibility we have as Americans. He would say, ‘People are dying to vote.’ I didn’t realize he was being literal. But I came to understand and now know that there are still people in the U.S. that can’t vote safely. If I can use my rabbinic voice and presence to help them, I think he would say I’m doing the most important thing I can do right now.”
Poll chaplains do not endorse candidates or political parties, interfere with voting or engage in electioneering. Their role is to offer a peaceful, supportive presence and help maintain an environment in which voters feel safe exercising their rights.
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.