Disagreement with 'Voters' Guide' Distribution in Church

October 25, 2000

Source: The Plain Dealer

On October 25, 2000, The Plain Dealer reported that, "just days after the Christian Coalition began a massive mailing of 70 million of its controversial voter guides, two leading church-state watchdog groups have announced their own counter-offensive aimed at key battleground states in the Nov. 7 election. The Interfaith Alliance, a broad-based coalition of moderate and liberal religious groups, will release a letter from clergy to fellow clergy in seven battleground states and nine others today urging them not to distribute the voter guides. At the same time, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has finished mailing 285,000 letters to clergy across the country, advising that the voter guides could jeopardize churches' tax-exempt status. Amber Khan, an Interfaith Alliance spokeswoman, said the 65,000 letters from local clergy hope to counter the voter guides, which she said 'undermine the ability of people of good faith to cast informed ballots.'

"'These voter guides are attempts to deceive and manipulate voters,' she said. 'They turn our houses of worship into political rally halls.'"