As voters in suburban Kansas City go to the polls for midterm elections, they will not be voting at two locations of Resurrection Church that usually are polling sites.
That’s because the multi-site Methodist church’s pastor, Adam Hamilton, is on the ballot running for U.S. Senate as a Democrat.
Johnson County Election Commissioner Connie Schmidt told the Johnson County Post the shift was necessary to avoid having voting at what is considered Hamilton’s “place of business.”
Adam Hamilton
Previously, two Resurrection Church campuses — the main campus in Leawood and a satellite campus in Olathe — have served as polling places. That’s not unusual, as churches often volunteer their space for voting and are ideally suited for the role because of ample parking and large spaces.
Voters who previously cast ballots at Resurrection’s Leawood location will instead vote at Congregation Beth Torah, and those who normally vote at Resurrection West in Olathe will go instead to Christ Community Church of the Nazarene.
In 2022, Christianity Today mapped all the U.S. polling sites and found 20% were in churches. That represented 12,875 houses of worship.
With an increase in political activism in churches and a rise in the number of clergy running for office, the use of churches as polling places has come under renewed scrutiny. Schools, libraries, fire stations and government buildings also are common polling places across the U.S.
In Texas this year, one church-based polling place has drawn criticism from Republicans but remains an active polling place. That’s Friendship-West Baptist Church in South Dallas, where Frederick Haynes serves as pastor.
Frederick Haynes
Haynes is on the ballot this year as the Democratic nominee for his district’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. That seat currently is held by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who did not seek reelection to that role but instead ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
An online news outlet called Dallas Express has reported on complaints about Friendship-West being a polling place this year, even though the large church is one of the most prominent sites in the community.
The Dallas County Republican Party said the church serving as a polling site while Haynes is on the ballot presents a conflict of interest.
Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Monty Montañez told Dallas Express that Republicans have repeatedly raised concerns with the Dallas County Elections Department over using Haynes’ church as a polling location while he is on the ballot.
“Voters deserve complete confidence that their polling places are neutral and free from even the appearance of conflicts of interest,” he said.
In Dallas County, Friendship-West is one of 14 churches listed as polling places for the midterms. Those churches span the theological and political spectrum in identities.
It’s not just pastors on the ballot that cause concern for some voters, however. In San Antonio, Texas, Cornerstone Church is a polling place. That’s the megachurch led by televangelist and Zionist John Hagee and his son, Matt Hagee.
Ken Paxton at Cornerstone Church last Sunday. (Screencap)
Local artist Lauren Browning, who is active in support of Democratic causes, posted on Facebook her alarm about Cornerstone being a polling place because of the well-known activism of the pastors.
She called John Hagee “one of the most bigoted and politically active MAGA pastors in the United States.”
The church is seen as so toxic to many San Antonians that going there to vote presents a problem, she said. Besides the fact that last Sunday, Republican Senate candidiate Ken Paxton appeared there to applause.
“Cornerstone church is not a good fit as a polling site,” Browning wrote. “Polling sites are supposed to be welcoming to all, but Cornerstone is neither welcoming to voters or to the majority population in San Antonio. It’s a place that proudly touts the privileges of straight white males, and almost exclusively those who attend Cornerstone church.”
She cited examples of the elder Hagee’s jokes about women and his statement that “women are only meant to be mothers and bear children.” She also cited Hagee’s declaration that same-sex marriage “will open the door to incest, to polygamy, and every conceivable marriage arrangement demented minds can possibly conceive.”
“Roughly half of San Antonio’s religious folks are members of the Roman Catholic Church, which Hagee has called the ‘great whore of Revelation,’ a ‘false cult system’ and the ‘anti-Christ,’” she added.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has posted a resource for voters who are concerned about being forced to vote in a house of worship. In some location, like Dallas County, voters may cast ballots at any polling site.