October 19, 2026
Here are opportunities to make a difference through Election Day.
Mobilizing Faith Communities to Protect the Elections: A Short Guide for Leaders
Mobilizing Faith Communities to Protect the Elections
A Short Guide for Leaders
When our country is in need, people of faith show up. There is particular power in multifaith movements, grounded in our shared belief that we are created in the divine image of God. Within our own faith communities, we find comfort in the familiar and joy in our similarities. Across faiths, our differences deepen our understanding of one another and expand our vision of what is possible.
As we prepare for the 2026 midterms, religious institutions and everyday people of faith have the values, power, and skills to play a pivotal role in protecting free and fair elections. Whatever candidates we support, we can work together to ensure every eligible person can vote and every valid vote is counted.
This guide offers simple ways to bring your community’s strengths to local efforts, help your neighbors approach the election with confidence, and prepare to respond peacefully and constructively if our elections are threatened.
What’s at stake this year
Voter suppression is real, and it isn’t new. For generations, communities across the country have faced purged voter rolls, closed polling places, long lines, and intimidation. But this year is also different. For the first time in modern history, the full power of the federal government is being used to subvert elections that states and local communities run.
Our election system is still strong - and we expect most places will have safe, secure elections, run by officials who take their jobs seriously. But we can’t take that for granted. Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan watchdog group, describes the strategy the Federal government is using in three steps:
- Deceive: Spread false claims that elections can’t be trusted, so people doubt the results before a single vote is counted.
- Disrupt: Make voting and running elections harder by changing rules, pressuring election officials, and discouraging turn out.
- Deny: Use the confusion to challenge, delay, or reject valid results through lawsuits, refusals to certify, or other pressure.
How we get ready, together
The Federal government’s strategy has been unfolding slowly. But at some point, an action may cross a red line: a moment that clearly breaks the rules, like refusing to certify a valid result or seizing ballots. We hope it never happens. If it does, the communities that prepared ahead of time will be the ones able to respond quickly and peacefully.
No single congregation or group can do this alone. The strongest preparation happens in local coalitions that bring together faith communities, unions, schools, small businesses, neighborhood groups, and local officials.
To get your community ready to mobilize, when a red line is crossed, we encourage you to put some of the following in place now:
- A trusted place to get the facts
- Connect with your local election coalition (offer options or resources) and learn what their plans are and where you might fit in. Be sure to get on their list.
- Find out what the risks are where you live. Look up your county on the Election Risk Heat Map and share what you learn with your network.
- Bookmark your county election office and state election website. Check your state’s certification dates on Protect Democracy’s 2026 State Election Calendars.
- A plan for post election action that aligns with your community’s strengths and matches the moment
- Decide ahead of time what your community is good at and you might do if needed. Some options include serving as a trusted source of information to community members, showing up at public certification meetings, organizing coordinated calls to officials, holding vigils, showing up at marches or other community mobilizations, or opening your building as a gathering space. If possible, do this in consultation with other community groups so you are coordinating your efforts.
- Get trained in nonviolent action and de-escalation before you need it. Free options include Interfaith Alliance, Freedom Trainers, and HOPE, which teaches communities how to make intimidation backfire.
- Plan for safety: name a few people to keep the group calm and on message, and know your rights.
- A network ready to act fast
- Build a way to reach your own people within an hour, like a Signal group, text list or phone tree. Test it once before Election Day.
- Identify a small crew willing to show up in person on short notice.
- Agree now on who calls the group together and where you would meet.
- Simple messages rooted in shared values
- Write two or three short sentences now about what you will say if results are threatened. Here’s a sample framework you can use from Hands Off Our Vote.
- Speak to values most people share, like fairness, keeping your word, and respect for neighbors.
- Draft a text message and a social media post you can send right away.
- Test your message with someone outside your usual circle.
- Trusted messengers who are ready to speak
- List the people your community already listens to: clergy, teachers, coaches, nurses, veterans, and local business owners.
- Ask them now, not in the middle of a crisis, whether they are willing to speak up.
- Give each of them a short message and the key facts.
- Have them practice a two-minute statement or a short video they could share.
Our strongest defense: show up and vote
The best protection against all three threats is overwhelming, undeniable turnout. A large, clear result is much harder to cast doubt on, disrupt, or overturn. Make sure everyone in your community has a plan to vote, encourage early voting where it’s available, and celebrate voting together.
- Make a plan: VOTE411 shows what’s on your ballot, where to vote, and how to vote early.
- Party at the Polls: Bring food, music, and joy to a polling place.
- Share the Following with Community Members: See a problem at the polls? Call or text the Election Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).
Stop rumors before they spread
Report problems at the polls to 866-OUR-VOTE instead of sharing them on social media
False claims are how deception takes hold. Help your community check before they share, send people to their local election office for answers. This free League of Women Voters handout makes it easy to teach.
___
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October 31, 2026
What gives us hope is that faith leaders are coming together to stand up for what’s right and take action in this moment of urgency, write Jews for Freedom Program Lead Shifra Bronznick and Interfaith Alliance Senior Advisor Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson.
Mobilizing Faith Communities to Protect the Elections: A Short Guide for Leaders
Mobilizing Faith Communities to Protect the Elections
A Short Guide for Leaders
When our country is in need, people of faith show up. There is particular power in multifaith movements, grounded in our shared belief that we are created in the divine image of God. Within our own faith communities, we find comfort in the familiar and joy in our similarities. Across faiths, our differences deepen our understanding of one another and expand our vision of what is possible.
As we prepare for the 2026 midterms, religious institutions and everyday people of faith have the values, power, and skills to play a pivotal role in protecting free and fair elections. Whatever candidates we support, we can work together to ensure every eligible person can vote and every valid vote is counted.
This guide offers simple ways to bring your community’s strengths to local efforts, help your neighbors approach the election with confidence, and prepare to respond peacefully and constructively if our elections are threatened.
What’s at stake this year
Voter suppression is real, and it isn’t new. For generations, communities across the country have faced purged voter rolls, closed polling places, long lines, and intimidation. But this year is also different. For the first time in modern history, the full power of the federal government is being used to subvert elections that states and local communities run.
Our election system is still strong - and we expect most places will have safe, secure elections, run by officials who take their jobs seriously. But we can’t take that for granted. Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan watchdog group, describes the strategy the Federal government is using in three steps:
- Deceive: Spread false claims that elections can’t be trusted, so people doubt the results before a single vote is counted.
- Disrupt: Make voting and running elections harder by changing rules, pressuring election officials, and discouraging turn out.
- Deny: Use the confusion to challenge, delay, or reject valid results through lawsuits, refusals to certify, or other pressure.
How we get ready, together
The Federal government’s strategy has been unfolding slowly. But at some point, an action may cross a red line: a moment that clearly breaks the rules, like refusing to certify a valid result or seizing ballots. We hope it never happens. If it does, the communities that prepared ahead of time will be the ones able to respond quickly and peacefully.
No single congregation or group can do this alone. The strongest preparation happens in local coalitions that bring together faith communities, unions, schools, small businesses, neighborhood groups, and local officials.
To get your community ready to mobilize, when a red line is crossed, we encourage you to put some of the following in place now:
- A trusted place to get the facts
- Connect with your local election coalition (offer options or resources) and learn what their plans are and where you might fit in. Be sure to get on their list.
- Find out what the risks are where you live. Look up your county on the Election Risk Heat Map and share what you learn with your network.
- Bookmark your county election office and state election website. Check your state’s certification dates on Protect Democracy’s 2026 State Election Calendars.
- A plan for post election action that aligns with your community’s strengths and matches the moment
- Decide ahead of time what your community is good at and you might do if needed. Some options include serving as a trusted source of information to community members, showing up at public certification meetings, organizing coordinated calls to officials, holding vigils, showing up at marches or other community mobilizations, or opening your building as a gathering space. If possible, do this in consultation with other community groups so you are coordinating your efforts.
- Get trained in nonviolent action and de-escalation before you need it. Free options include Interfaith Alliance, Freedom Trainers, and HOPE, which teaches communities how to make intimidation backfire.
- Plan for safety: name a few people to keep the group calm and on message, and know your rights.
- A network ready to act fast
- Build a way to reach your own people within an hour, like a Signal group, text list or phone tree. Test it once before Election Day.
- Identify a small crew willing to show up in person on short notice.
- Agree now on who calls the group together and where you would meet.
- Simple messages rooted in shared values
- Write two or three short sentences now about what you will say if results are threatened. Here’s a sample framework you can use from Hands Off Our Vote.
- Speak to values most people share, like fairness, keeping your word, and respect for neighbors.
- Draft a text message and a social media post you can send right away.
- Test your message with someone outside your usual circle.
- Trusted messengers who are ready to speak
- List the people your community already listens to: clergy, teachers, coaches, nurses, veterans, and local business owners.
- Ask them now, not in the middle of a crisis, whether they are willing to speak up.
- Give each of them a short message and the key facts.
- Have them practice a two-minute statement or a short video they could share.
Our strongest defense: show up and vote
The best protection against all three threats is overwhelming, undeniable turnout. A large, clear result is much harder to cast doubt on, disrupt, or overturn. Make sure everyone in your community has a plan to vote, encourage early voting where it’s available, and celebrate voting together.
- Make a plan: VOTE411 shows what’s on your ballot, where to vote, and how to vote early.
- Party at the Polls: Bring food, music, and joy to a polling place.
- Share the Following with Community Members: See a problem at the polls? Call or text the Election Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).
Stop rumors before they spread
Report problems at the polls to 866-OUR-VOTE instead of sharing them on social media
False claims are how deception takes hold. Help your community check before they share, send people to their local election office for answers. This free League of Women Voters handout makes it easy to teach.
___
Want to get more info? Sign up to get updates from Jews for Freedom & Interfaith Alliance.