Legal Commentary

Nevada and Disenfrancisement of Religious Voters

By Jeralyn

The Washington Post in an editorial today castigates Nevada for choosing Saturday morning to hold caucuses when religious conservative and observant Jewish people and 7th Day Adventists will have to choose between their faith and their desire to participate in caucuses.

Last week, Just Engage, the official blog of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs weighed in with Separation of Shul and State. [More..]

Nevada has one of the fastest growing Jewish populations in the country, and its 65,000-80,000 Jewish community members are expected to have a disproportionate impact on the results. I do not know how many of these Jews are observant enough to be effectively barred from participating in the caucus. I do not know how many of these Jews will be pushed into the uncomfortable position of choosing between attending synagogue and participating in a cherished American civic tradition. I DO know that it is highly unlikely that the state's political parties would choose to hold these caucuses on a Sunday morning during church services.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 19, 2008 (boomark / email).