在过去的几次选举周期中，宗教领袖及普通的和平维护者们始终以冷静、安定的态度在投票站现场提供帮助。
Poll chaplains and lay peacekeepers have maintained a calm presence over the last few election cycles.
选举日当天，一位贵格会领袖将从首都前往她的家乡俄亥俄州；一位基督教牧师和一位犹太拉比将在亚利桑那州的投票站外为选民提供支持；一位佛教尼姑则会在威斯康星州帮助选民完成投票流程。
DEEPA BHARATH Come Election Day a Quaker leader will travel from the nation’s capital to her home state of Ohio. A Christian minister and a Jewish rabbi will stand vigil outside a polling place in Arizona.
在这些全国性的“关键州”（即选举竞争激烈的州），这些宗教领袖及其数百名同事将临时担任投票站的“宗教辅导员”（即为选民提供精神慰藉和支持的人）。他们将被派往九个州：亚利桑那州、密歇根州、乔治亚州、俄亥俄州、宾夕法尼亚州、北卡罗来纳州、威斯康星州、弗吉尼亚州和德克萨斯州。在这些州，激烈的选举竞争可能会加剧政治紧张局势。
A Buddhist nun will offer support to voters in Wisconsin. battleground states across the country, these faith leaders and hundreds of their colleagues will assume the role of poll chaplains for one day. They will deploy to nine states — Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Virginia and Texas — where contentious races are expected to raise political tensions Faiths United in Saving Democracy, a nonpartisan coalition of interfaith and secular partners, is helping to train and certify this volunteer force of clergy members and lay peacekeepers in time for the Nov. 3 elections.
这个名为“联合信仰拯救民主”（Faiths United in Saving Democracy）的非党派组织正在协助培训这些志愿者——他们包括宗教人士和平民志愿者——以确保他们能够在11月3日的选举中发挥作用。该组织的联合创始人芭芭拉·威廉姆斯-斯金纳（Barbara Williams-Skinner）表示：“这些志愿者将佩戴专门的标识帽和背心，在投票站外待命，他们的目的是营造一个平静、令人安心的环境，鼓励更多选民勇敢地行使自己的投票权利。”截至10月19日，该组织已招募了1,235名这样的志愿者。
They’ll wear identifying hats and vests, and stay outside the poll centers, with the goal of maintaining a calm, reassuring presence to encourage more voters to exercise their rights without fear or hesitation, said co-founder Barbara Williams-Skinner. As of Oct. 19, they’ve recruited 1,235 poll chaplains and peacekeepers, she said.
虽然“投票站宗教辅导员”的概念已经存在多年，但威廉姆斯-斯金纳认为“2026年的情况会有所不同”：因为人们普遍担心联邦移民官员的出现在投票现场可能会引发恐慌。她担忧这可能会让那些家庭成员具有混合移民身份或来自有色人种社区的选民感到恐惧，从而影响他们的投票意愿。尽管国土安全部（DHS）官员多次表示没有计划派遣移民官员到投票站，但部长马克韦恩·穆林（Markwayne Mullin）也承认，在某些特殊情况下（例如持有逮捕令时），移民官员仍有可能出现在投票现场。
A non-partisan effort to take the fear out of voting While the idea of poll chaplains has been around for several years, Williams-Skinner said “2026 is going to be different” because there is widespread concern that the presence of federal immigration agents could create a chilling effect. “The fear is real,” she says, worrying that it could deter eligible voters in mixed-immigration-status families and communities of color. Department of Homeland Security officials have consistently said they have no plans to send immigration agents to the polls, although DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said they could show up for a specific reason, such as arresting someone if they have a warrant.
该联盟提供了线上和线下的培训服务。参与者可以了解到移民权益的相关信息、冲突缓和技巧，以及在紧急情况下可以拨打的求助电话号码，威廉姆斯-斯金纳（Williams-Skinner）说道。
The coalition has offered training online and in person. Participants get information about immigrant rights, de-escalation techniques and phone numbers to call in tight situations, Williams-Skinner said.
她表示，这项最初起源于黑人教会（Black church）的倡议现已扩展到涵盖不同宗教信仰的人群以及无宗教信仰的人士。
The initiative, strongly rooted in the Black church, has expanded to include diverse faiths as well as non-religious people, she said.
“这是一个由各种不同群体共同发起的运动，”她说，“其中包括白人新教徒、贵格会成员、传统浸信会信徒、黑人教会领袖、伊玛目以及拉比——这些群体过去可能从未合作过。”虽然大多数参与该倡议的组织都属于温和或进步派别，但她强调这项活动完全是非党派的。
“This is a movement built by unusual coalitions,” she said. “You have white, Mainline Protestants, Quakers, traditional Baptists, Black church leaders, imams, rabbis — all kinds of people who probably would not work together or haven’t worked together in the past.”While most participating groups are moderate or progressive, Williams-Skinner says it is a strictly nonpartisan initiative.
“我们并不关心谁是温和派、谁是保守派；人们只需要能够毫无畏惧地行使自己的投票权即可，”她说。
“We don’t get hung up on who’s moderate or who’s conservative. People just need to be able to vote, unafraid,” she said.
2025年9月保守派活动家查理·柯克（Charlie Kirk）遇刺后，皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）进行的一项调查显示，无论政治立场如何，85%的美国人认为政治暴力正在加剧。此前在选举期间，投票站曾成为抗议者的攻击目标：2022年，由于选民投诉存在恐吓行为，一些自称负责监督亚利桑那州投票箱安全的人员被要求与投票站保持至少250英尺（75米）的距离；2020年选举结束后，底特律的一个计票中心遭到人群冲击，许多参与者受到网上关于选举舞弊的阴谋论的煽动。
Concerns about voter intimidation motivate chaplains Pew survey following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025 showed 85% of Americans, across political lines, believe political violence is on the rise. Polling places have been targeted by protesters in past elections. In 2022, members of a group claiming to monitor ballot drop boxes in Arizona were ordered to stay at least 250 feet (75 meters) away after voters complained about intimidation. In 2020, following Election Day, a crowd stormed a vote-counting center in Detroit, many incited by online conspiracy theories about election fraud.
当暴徒们猛烈撞击投票中心的门窗时，史蒂夫·布兰德（Rev. Steve Bland）牧师与其他宗教领袖一起挺身站在建筑物与人群之间，保护选民的安全。布兰德目前仍担任底特律自由浸信会（Liberty Temple Baptist Church）的负责人，并继续从事投票站期间的宗教慰藉工作。
As the mob banged on the center’s doors and windows, the Rev. Steve Bland was among several faith leaders who put their bodies between the building and the crowd. Bland, who leads Detroit’s Liberty Temple Baptist Church, is continuing that work as a poll chaplain.
牧师表示，缓和局势通常涉及“用恰当的言辞平息事态”，或给受到恐吓的选民提供精神支持和安抚，让他们确信行使公民权利是安全的。布兰德说，他在之前的一次选举中，正是为一位年迈的黑人女性做了这件事。
The pastor says de-escalation often involves “using the right words to calm a situation” or giving intimidated voters the moral support and reassurance that they are safe to exercise their civic right. Bland said he did precisely that for an elderly, Black woman during a prior election.
“她离开后又带着两个孙子回来，他们也投了票，”他说。“如果没有那次干预，那天就有三个人无法投票。”北卡罗来纳州罗利市浸信会树林教堂的资深牧师班科勒·阿金比努表示，冲突解决和缓和局势方面的培训，让他有信心担任投票站随军牧师。作为一名千禧一代，他一直试图通过从大学校园招募维和人员来吸引年轻人参与。他的动力源于看到北卡罗来纳州和其他州出现的压制选民企图。
“She left and came back with two of her grandsons who also voted,” he said. “Without that intervention, three people wouldn’t have voted that day.”The Rev. Bankole Akinbinu, senior pastor of Baptist Grove Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, said training in conflict resolution and de-escalation has given him the confidence to serve as a poll chaplain. A millennial, he has sought to engage younger people by recruiting peacekeepers from college campuses. His motivation comes from seeing voter suppression attempts in North Carolina and other states.
“我看着我们的先辈，他们忍受了怎样的斗争，才让我们获得了投票的特权，”阿金比努说。“我看着我的孩子，以及我想留给他们的国家。”俄亥俄州立大学选举法项目副主任史蒂文·休夫纳表示，投票站随军牧师或许能平复选民紧绷的神经，因为选民长期暴露在分裂性言论和政治暴力新闻之中。他指出，虽然政治暴力有所增加，但尚未普遍化。“选举工作人员训练有素，能够很好地组织选举，”他说。
“I look at our forefathers and the struggle they had to endure to afford us the privilege of voting,” Akinbinu said. “I look at my children and the nation I want to hand them.”Steven Huefner, deputy director of the Election Law Program at The Ohio State University, says poll chaplains might be able to calm the frayed nerves of a voting public that is constantly exposed to divisive rhetoric and news about political violence. While political violence has increased, he says, it’s not widespread. “Election workers are well-trained and can run elections quite well,” he said.
宾夕法尼亚州布林莫尔学院社会学教授、牧师创新实验室创始人温迪·卡吉说，信仰领袖历史上一直扮演着维和者的角色。
Faith leaders have historically played the role of peacekeepers, said Wendy Cadge, professor of sociology at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and founder of the think tank Chaplaincy Innovation Lab.
如今，牧师工作——超越传统的礼拜场所——正吸引着更多神职人员。
And now chaplaincy — beyond traditional worship spaces — is attracting more clergy.
“人们之所以选择从事牧师工作，是因为他们希望在他人遇到困难时能够提供帮助，”卡奇（Cadge）说道。“他们并不关心教堂里的地毯是什么颜色，也不关心自己的青年活动是否吸引了足够多的人参与——这确实是一种与众不同的工作方式。”牧师们从神学中汲取灵感；那些在选举日参与服务的神职人员表示，他们是在响应一种强烈的、基于信仰的使命感，即担任投票站的牧师。
“People are feeling called to chaplaincy because they want to be with people in difficult times,” Cadge said. “They don’t want to worry about what color the carpet is in the church or if their youth programs are attracting enough people. It’s a different kind of work.”Chaplains find inspiration in theology Clergy deploying on Election Day say they are heeding a strong, faith-driven calling to serve as poll chaplains.
在亚利桑那州，亚利桑那信仰网络（Arizona Faith Network）的执行主任凯蒂·塞克斯顿（Katie Sexton）认为这一举措是一种跨越政治分歧、促进团结的方式。她表示：“投票站是一个让我们所有人都被视为平等的地方；这体现了基督教关于‘所有人都是按照上帝的形象创造的’这一信念。这其中蕴含着巨大的力量。”10月6日，塞克斯顿与其他几位人士一起参加了在斯科茨代尔（Scottsdale）的Temple Chai改革派犹太教堂举行的培训课程——这是中期选举前的最后几次培训之一。
In Arizona, Rev. Katie Sexton, executive director of Arizona Faith Network, embraces the initiative as a way to reach across the political divide. “The ballot box is a place where we’re all seen as equal,” she said, adding that it reflects the Christian belief that all humans are created in the image of God. “There is such power in that.”On Oct. 6, Sexton and several others participated in a training session — one of the last before the midterms — at Temple Chai, a Reform synagogue in Scottsdale.
领导该犹太教会的埃米莉·塞格尔（Emily Segal）拉比下个月将首次担任投票站的牧师。她认为，这项工作与《托拉》（Torah）和《塔木德》（Talmud）中关于建立一个健康、公正社会的教导是一致的。塞格尔指出：“在美国历史上，跨信仰联盟曾推动过许多重要的变革，并成为人们灵感的源泉。每当我们可以与信仰伙伴们为了社会的福祉而团结在一起时，这对我们的社区来说都是一种真正的神圣体验。”
Rabbi Emily Segal, who leads the congregation, will be a poll chaplain for the first time next month. The work, she says, aligns with what the Torah and Talmud teach about a healthy and just society. Throughout American history, interfaith coalitions have created powerful change and served as sources of inspiration, Segal said. “Any time we can come together with faith partners around our shared values for societal good is a real source of holiness for our community.”
贵格会领袖布里奇特·莫伊克斯（Bridget Moix）将在选举日返回她的家乡俄亥俄州。她说：“在我们的信仰传统中，我们认为投票是一种需要被珍视的圣洁行为。”
Bridget Moix, a Quaker leader, will travel to her native Ohio on Election Day. “In our faith tradition, we think about voting as a sacred act we want to protect,” she said.
对于密尔沃基禅修中心的驻校教师雷琳·甘贝尔（Reirin Gumbel）来说，这将是她第三次在选举日参与投票站牧师的工作。她表示：“作为佛教徒，我们诵念的《慈经》（Metta Sutra）告诉我们：所有生命都具有相同的权利，我们应该对所有人怀有慈悲之心。”
For Reirin Gumbel, resident teacher at the Milwaukee Zen Center, it’ll be a third time, come November. “As Buddhists, the Metta Sutra we chant says every being has the same rights, and that we should have compassion toward all,” she said.
伊玛目穆罕默德·阿里·埃拉希是密歇根州迪尔伯恩海茨伊斯兰智慧之家的精神领袖，正考虑首次担任投票站牧师。在埃拉希所在州的一场竞争激烈的竞选中，阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德成为首位竞选美国参议员席位的穆斯林民主党候选人。
Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi, spiritual leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, is considering becoming a poll chaplain for the first time. In a highly contentious campaign in Elahi’s state, Abdul El-Sayed is the first Muslim Democratic candidate to run for a U.S. Senate seat.
这位伊玛目表示，他对中期选举前出现的反穆斯林恶毒攻击感到厌倦。
The imam said he is tired of anti-Muslim vitriol that has surfaced ahead of the midterms.
“作为跨信仰神职人员，我们坚持原则而非个人，”他说。“《古兰经》告诉我们要坚持正义——真理、公正、和平、人权以及无论是谁的人类尊严。”美联社宗教报道通过美联社与The Conversation US的合作获得支持，资金来自礼来捐赠基金会。美联社对该内容承担全部责任。
“As interfaith clergy, we stand for principles not personalities,” he said. “The Quran tells us to stand for what’s right — truth, justice, peace, human rights and the dignity of human beings, whoever they may be.”Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.