Florida Court Approves of Churches as Polling Places

When Jerry Rabinowitz wanted to vote in the 2006 elections in Florida, he was forced to do so in the Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach. Rather than a neutral location where no particular policies or agendas are being furthered, Rabinowitz had to pass "pro-life" banner framed with crosses and, inside, prominent religious symbols and slogans. Rabinowitz sued, but a summary judgment was issued against him U.S. District Judge Donald L. Middlebrooks.

This is a disappointing decision because it means that local politicians will retain the ability to influence voting patterns. They can place polling stations in churches or other houses of worship where religious leaders can post signs and messages which political leaders are barred from doing. I suspect that many would discover a new appreciation for church/state separation if the polling stations were located in mosques or atheist centers, but since it's Christian messages being favored and being used to influence voters, that makes it all acceptable.

"This is not a case where a governmental actor actively placed a religious icon or message at a voting location," the judge wrote in a decision filed yesterday. "Plaintiff did not have to vote in a booth where the Defendant had placed a crucifix above the ballot, or where the first page of the ballot read "Each of us matters to God." "

Judge Middlebrooks said no reasonable person would conclude that the county was endorsing Catholicism or any religious symbols found in the church. He said the fact that Mr. Rabinowitz or others were offended did not amount to a constitutional violation. "An individual's subjective feeling is not dispositive," the judge wrote.

Source: The New York Sun

So, it would be unconstitutional for the government to place religious icons above a voting booth, but it's not unconstitutional for the government to place a voting booth below religious icons. It would be unconstitutional for the government to surround voting booths with religious messages, but it is not unconstitutional for the government to place voting booths in the midst of religious messages.

I'm sorry, but this strikes me as a distinction that doesn't make a difference. The reasons why it's wrong for the government to surround voting booths with religious symbols and messages still apply when the government merely moves voting booths into a location that is already filled with religious symbols and messages — or where they know the symbols and messages will magically and conveniently appear.

"We're saddened by this decision," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), "but the struggle isn't over. We haven't ruled out an appeal in this case and will relaunch this case in another jurisdiction, challenging a similar abuse. We have members all over the United States who have answered our call to report these abuses or be plaintiffs." ...

"Such a religiously-charged environment can serve to intimidate or unduly influence a person's vote," added AHA president and constitutional law professor Mel Lipman. "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. Sadly, due to Judge Middlebrooks' decision, many barriers still stand in the way of guaranteeing this kind of atmosphere on voting day for all Americans."

The American Humanist Association has received numerous complaints from all across the country about polling stations in churches. According to AHLC attorney James Hurley: "An Illinois member voted in a church that displayed a four-foot wooden crucifix right above the election judges. Another member in California was confronted with a large marble plaque dedicated to the 'unborn children' who are 'killed' by abortion and containing a quote from the Bible justifying the notion that the soul is alive in the womb. And a New York member voted in a room featuring large religious slogans on the wall behind the voting machines."

Why should Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, or atheists have to go to a Christian church and be forced to look at Christian symbols just so they can exercise their fundamental right to vote? Why should Christian fundamentalists have to go to a Catholic Church to vote? It really doesn’t make any sense to integrate private churches into the public process of civic voting. Churches, as institutions, can't be accorded any special status, role, or voice when it comes to voting for officers of a civil, secular government.