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Conservative Christians were skeptical of mail-in ballots. Now they are gathering them in churches

apnews.com Conservative Christians were skeptical of mail-in ballots. Now they are gathering them in churches

Conservative Christian churches in California and prominent figures around the United States like activist Charlie Kirk are urging congregations to get involved in ballot gathering or ballot harvesting.

Conservative Christians were skeptical of mail-in ballots. Now they are gathering them in churches

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.

Robert Tyler, a California-based attorney who represents conservative churches and pastors, said he still believes “ballot harvesting and universal vote by mail creates opportunities for fraud.”

“But the rules of the game have changed,” he said. “Until the law changes, we have to get out and gather ballots like they are doing.”

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