Faith Leaders Defend the Freedom to Vote: National Sign on Letter

As people of faith, we believe every person is created with God-given dignity, voice and agency. That conviction does not stop at the doors of our congregations; it shapes how we show up in public life. When eligible voters face barriers, intimidation or confusion at the ballot box, our neighbors’ voices are diminished — and so is the health of our democracy.

A national sign-on letter, “Faith Leaders Defending Our Democracy,” invites clergy and faith leaders across traditions, races and geographies to speak out together for fair access to the ballot. The letter raises concern about efforts that could restrict vote-by-mail, complicate voter registration, intimidate voters, weaken privacy protections, or dilute communities’ voting power through discriminatory maps. It especially names the impact on elders, people with disabilities or mobility concerns, rural voters, workers with difficult schedules, voters of color and people living in poverty.

For Lutherans, protecting voting rights is one way we love our neighbor in public. Our advocacy is not about partisanship; it is about ensuring that all eligible voters can participate safely, freely and fairly in choosing the leaders who make decisions affecting our shared life. LAMA encourages Arizona faith leaders to review the letter and consider adding their names as a public witness for dignity, justice and democracy.

Following is the text of the sign-on letter from Faith In Us, with a link to sign the letter below.

The Letter

“As faith leaders, we stand for justice and fairness. We believe in protecting the dignity and rights of all people. We work to bring people together across every divide and we know that our democracy is strong when everyone is treated with dignity and when all voices are heard. As we approach the 2026 November elections, our freedom to vote and elect the leaders we choose is under threat. As clergy across faith, race and geography, we are joining together to protect our voting rights and the voting rights of our neighbors. 

We are speaking out against decisions that limit the access eligible voters have to the ballot box and efforts that appear aimed at preventing eligible voters from voting. We are deeply concerned about the executive order severely restricting vote-by-mail, and we are outraged by the rapid gerrymandering of racially discriminatory election maps in many states following the Supreme Court’s decision to end the Voting Rights Act commitment to racial equality in elections.

Vote-by-mail is particularly important for elders in our communities, for those with mobility concerns, for those in rural areas, and for those whose job status or life circumstances makes it difficult to vote in person on election day. In some states, all eligible voters are sent a mail ballot. This executive order threatens to take the vote away from countless eligible voters in our communities, causing confusion and chaos and the denial of fundamental constitutional rights. Vote-by-mail has been proven to be accurate, reliable, and efficient across the country, and it helps ensure that eligible voters are able to exercise their constitutional right to vote.  

Our faith traditions affirm the dignity, worth, and agency of all people. Patterns of action that prevent eligible voters from voting and that dilute voter’s power to choose their elected leaders violate our faith traditions’ affirmation of human dignity. Complicated registration rules, fewer voting options, threats to deploy ICE to polling places, barriers based on financial ability, requests that states turn over voter rolls despite privacy and security concerns, and discriminatory gerrymandering of maps all offend our core faith values as well as core democracy values. These efforts limit access to the ballot box and intimidate eligible voters, especially eligible voters of color and poverty. This makes us less free and gives us less power as voters to choose our leaders. 

We call on our Secretaries of State, election administrators and all elected officials in our states to join us in publicly opposing these efforts. We call on elected officials to join us in protecting our elections, our democracy, and the ability of all eligible voters to be able to access the ballot box and vote.   

We are coming together to protect our voting rights and the voting rights of our neighbors. We will continue to oppose attacks on the freedom to vote. We call on our elected leaders to do the same.”

Signed,