By DEEPA BHARATH
Updated 8:18 AM EDT, September 29, 2024
MENIFEE, California (AP) — With Election Day just a few weeks away, longtime church members Lucky Hartunian and Janie Booth sat outside the Revival Christian Fellowship’s sanctuary in Menifee, California, inviting congregants to register to vote.
The women urged those streaming into the evangelical church’s Saturday morning civic engagement event to “make their voices heard as Christians.” After mail-in ballots go out statewide, Booth and Hartunian will be among church volunteers collecting completed, sealed ballots and dropping them off at the county office the next day.
It’s a practice known as ballot gathering – or ballot harvesting — that’s been a source of national controversy over the years.
Booth said her task is a big responsibility, but she’s not nervous.
“A lot of people don’t trust the mail,” she said. “So I feel honored and privileged to do this. I’m doing this for my kids and grandkids.”
Big Sal
Article URL : https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-churches-ballot-gathering-evangelicals-1d1a48c53f8e970fb3f31a7650f200fb