At Brethren Village, in a retirement community with historic ties to the Church of the Brethren, voters of all ages quietly milled out and in of a chapel that had been converted right into a polling location. Decked out in a suit, vibrant red tie and golden cross necklace, Stephen Shenk said he solid his ballot for Trump. So did Madison Bellanca, who stood next to him.
“The big thing for me is the border and the economy,” Shenk said. “I feel the border was so much safer during Trump’s reign in 2016, and I also feel the economy was in a greater spot. We’re a younger generation that is trying to buy a house, and it’s turn out to be rather more difficult to purchase a house prior to now 4 years than it was previously.”
Describing himself only as a Christian, Shenk said he attends Victory Church, a close-by evangelical congregation, and that his faith “definitely plays a task” in how he votes.
“My morals stand with a variety of policies that Donald Trump falls under, and the Republican Party as an entire,” he said.
Standing nearby along with his dog was John Byers, who said he voted for Harris. He has supported Republicans in past elections, he said, but Trump was a bridge too far this 12 months.
“After Jan. 6, I can not vote for Trump,” he said, referring to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Byers explained that, as a member of an area Church of the Brethren congregation, he has helped resettle refugees within the region through Church World Service, considered one of six faith-based groups that partner with the federal government to assist resettle refugees. The experience made him wary of Trump’s plans to implement mass deportation.
“After working so hard to resettle people on this country, I don’t desire to see a bunch of individuals deported,” Byers said.
Both candidates leaned on faith within the waning days of the campaign, calling on religious voters to support them. Trump, who hosted a rally in Lancaster on Monday, his final day of campaigning, focused on evangelicals, a constituency that has long supported him. Harris appealed to several religious groups, including Black Protestants and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Questions about Trump’s character resonated with Rhoda Mast, a voter at Brethren Village on Tuesday who said she backed Harris. She was concerned about Trump’s character, she said, noting she “couldn’t vote for a convicted felon.” What’s more, Mast said, her Mennonite beliefs precluded her from supporting a candidate known for repeatedly spreading falsehoods.
“We imagine, as people of religion, as Christians, we want to inform the reality and be kind and be honest and love everyone, not only Americans,” Mast said.
Down the road at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, where Diana, who asked to only be identified by her first name, said she voted for Trump. Standing outside the church around midday as a trickle of voters filed in on their lunch hour, she said Trump — who, like her, identifies as a nondenominational Christian — “stands more for our biblical beliefs and our Christian beliefs.”
Following her out of the church was Neil Wilson, a health care employee and veteran. He said he sat out the 2020 election but didn’t need to miss it this go-round, so he solid his ballot for Harris.
“I identical to what she’s representing — the people, the center class. It inspires me to get out and vote,” Wilson said. Raised in a Baptist family that included a pastor as an uncle, he said his faith inspired him “to get out and check out to make a difference this 12 months, simply to think that my vote will count.”
Over on the funeral home polling station, Katie Pasic, a Catholic, said she believes abortion “is terrible” but solid her vote for Harris, who has made protecting abortion rights a spotlight of her campaign.
“I do not think anybody wakes up within the morning pondering ‘I’d like to have an abortion,'” said Pasic, whose husband, an agnostic, also voted for Harris. “I can not speak for all Catholics, but I feel like you’ll be able to be anti-abortion, but pro-choice.”
Although the Catholic Church formally opposes abortion, the vast majority of U.S. Catholics imagine abortion ought to be legal in all or most cases, based on multiple polls.
Not everyone was comfortable discussing their vote. One couple refused to disclose the contents of their ballot, but only because they “cancel one another out” and “didn’t need to get into it” in front of a reporter.
Another couple, Jenna and Alex Moyer, said they recently moved to Lancaster County from Philadelphia and attend a nondenominational church. But while Alex Moyer said he believes “Judeo-Christian ethics” inform who he thinks “will make a great leader for our country,” he declined to say who that is likely to be.
Jenna Moyer was similarly reticent, saying, “We just need to see the country be led in a way that supports our values, but additionally allows there to be good morals and values for our youngsters to be brought up in.”
Both also insisted coverage depicting the Pennsylvania electorate as deeply divided is overblown.
“When you walk the streets, fairly often individuals are treating each other with dignity and respect,” Jenna Moyer said.
For others, faith wasn’t an element in any respect. Royce Stout, who identified as Christian and wore a shirt emblazoned with a founding-era American flag, said he voted for Trump because he wants “a secure border.” Asked if his faith informed his vote, he offered a one-word response: “No.”
Walking away in the opposite direction from the funeral home, Amar and Vara Nuri said they voted for Trump. “We need to see changes, we got uninterested in Democrats,” said Amar Nuri. Vara Nuri, standing beside him in a headband, nodded in agreement. But each insisted their faith didn’t play a task in the choice.
But religion was an enormous a part of what drove others to the polls. At the UCC church, Evony Otero said she was raised Catholic but now identifies simply as Christian. Ahead of her vote, Otero said, she had a “couple conversations with God about it,” but is now “confident” in her decision.
“I’m a lady. I’m a single mom. I do know what it’s wish to struggle. I do know what it’s wish to feel like your back is against the wall,” she said. “I wanted any person who I can relate to, that has been in perhaps that very same situation, or a member of the family of theirs has went through the identical thing too.”
She was voting for Harris, she said, and leaving the remaining as much as God.
“We’re just gonna put it in his hands,” she said.
© Religion News Service
