Faith leaders gather at Capitol, pledge protection of free, fair election

Minnesota faith leaders gathered Thursday at the State Capitol pledging to protect the right to vote and to have votes properly counted. 

Early voting begins Friday. 

“We don’t get to just vote as normal because, unfortunately, this is not a normal election. We have already witnessed the numerous attacks on our democracy,” said JaNaé Bates Imari, the co-executive director of ISAIAH, a progressive ecumenical religious group. “We protect our elections, and we make sure that we are clear that we’re going to act free in order to stay free in this state.”  

The phrase “act free to stay free” has become a rallying cry among Minnesota democracy defenders this year. It serves as the title of a memo written by Doran Schrantz — former ISAIAH executive director — that lays out the ongoing threats to a free and fair election and calls for specific steps to ensure votes are counted and winners seated. 

President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly sought to intervene in the voting and tabulation process, despite the U.S. Constitution’s clarity that this is a state, not a federal, role. Trump has continuously claimed that election fraud by non-citizens is rampant, even though it is extremely rare. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Trump’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting on Monday, though the administration recently ordered more than two dozen states, including Minnesota, to maintain records from the 2024 election as it seeks to gain access to voter registration information. 

At the Capitol, faith leaders said they will use lessons from Operation Metro Surge to defend Minnesota’s election integrity. Last winter, churches, mosques and synagogues and their clergy played a key role in protecting, feeding and housing immigrants. Many religious leaders participated in several protest actions, including a demonstration at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport that led to the arrest of about 100 clergy members. 

Imam Abdulahi Farah, co-chair of the Somali American Leadership Table, said Trump’s immigration policies were a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise immigrants. 

The blueprint for fighting Trump’s attempt to sabotage the election, drawn up in Minnesota

“We had a president who decided to call my community garbage, and also attack us and say that he will deport all of us. We knew those were his spectacles of cruelty. That was a strategy to make sure a community that shows up to vote are in fear and don’t show up to vote,” Farah said. 

Trump has not said that he would send ICE agents to polling locations. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE agents would only be deployed if there were potential threats at the polls or the agents were serving a warrant. 

“We have heard threats and discussions about sending federal agents, including ICE agents, to polling places. As we’ve heard this morning, as Minnesotans, we do not have to imagine the presence of ICE and what it can mean for a community,” Pastor Quinlan Koch of First Lutheran Church said. “So our response cannot simply be to watch this happen.” 

The faith leaders said they will train congregations on how to build rapid response networks in their communities and hold election night vigils. After the remarks, those gathered walked to nearby Christ on Capitol Hill, a Lutheran church, to eat lunch and attend trainings. As they walked, they sang the refrain, “Put one foot in front of the other, and lead with love.”