Faith Voices Post-Election Press Conference
In partnership with Georgia Faith in Public Life
Remarks by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Savannah) and Missioner for Racial Justice in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
Delivered on November 4, 2020. Excerpts were published here.
Today is an uncertain day. We are accustomed to waking up on the Wednesday after Election Day knowing all the results. But that isn’t the case in 2020. We are waiting for the democractic processes of our nation to work. Millions of people cast ballots in this election and many of them are still being tabulated. It’s just too early to give firm results on many of these races.
But I have not been asked to speak as a political pundit. I’m here to stand alongside these my sisters and brothers to assert that all human beings are created in the image of God. As a Christian, I believe that all people have inherent dignity and worth. All people are worthy of fair and equal treatment under the law. Our governments have a moral responsibility to protect the rights of every person in this land. Chief among them is the right to vote and to have those votes counted accurately and fairly.
At this stage in the process, as moral leaders in the state of Georgia, we have two primary responsibilities. First, we ask all Georgians to take a deep breath. Be patient. The results of this election will not be certain for a little while longer. Don’t listen to any candidate who claims premature victory. Instead, pay attention to reliable news sources and the election officials in each county and state. There is no need to rush this process, even if it makes us feel anxious or uncomfortable. We must instead focus on conducting the election process fairly, thoroughly, and accurately.
That leads to our second responsibility. We faith leaders (along with all people of good will) must do all in our power to hold our elected and appointed officials accountable to the rule of law and a high moral standard. The stories of the Bible frequently remind us that people in power rarely volunteer to use their power for the common good. They need prophetic voices from the community to hold them to their word.
So we must call on election officials to do what they are legally required to do, to do what they have sworn to do -- namely, to count every vote. As we look further ahead, we will need to band together to eliminate all whiffs of voter suppression and intimidation. I would like to thank the Secretary of State’s Voter Education office for helping St. Matthew’s Church to register voters and educate the Savannah community on the voting process. In my limited experience as a poll chaplain yesterday afternoon, the polling places in Savannah were accessible and free from foul actors. For that we thank Chatham County Election officials and the residents of our city.
Nevertheless, the process is still confusing and overly complicated. Many voters were unclear about their basic voting rights or about which polling place is theirs to vote in. Without a poll chaplain or someone to shepherd people through the process, some may not have been able to complete their vote. We the people need to ensure that voting rights are expanded and protected by members of all political parties, in every political office. This is long term work, but today we have short term goals.
Today, we again call on all election officials to make every vote count by counting every vote. Thank you.
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