An Election Like No Other

by Rabbi Nancy Kasten

“How is this night different from all other nights?” This is the first of the four questions asked by the youngest person present at the Passover seder table. As the midterm election gets into full swing, we might ask, “How is this election different from all other elections?” And, why should people of faith care?

The way the Trump Administration is executing this election casts doubt on whether we are still  living in a constitutional democracy in the United States. Prior to this election, there was a relative balance of power among the three branches of government, constrained by rules that applied equally to each. While gerrymandering and campaign finance have always served partisan interests, now state power is being used in illegitimate and undemocratic ways to serve the President and his supporters, with limited recourse against it. 

On September 10, at the first-ever midterm Republican National Committee convention, after telling his audience “You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell, you know that?” Donald Trump asked them to raise their rights hands and repeat after him:

“I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States, that loves us so much he can’t even breathe, that I will go out with my family, my friends. I’ll do it any way. I don’t care if I’m registered or not. I’m going to try and cheat like hell, like they do.” 

In the past, if a president made remarks like these, law enforcement agencies and election oversight bodies would investigate him for potential violations of election integrity laws, incitement, or conspiracy to commit fraud. But now the entities responsible for doing so either are led by Trump loyalists or have been eliminated by the Administration.

Donald Trump made it clear before he was elected that his goal was to eliminate elections entirely. At a Turning Point Action “Believer’s Summit” on July 26, 2024, he said, “I love you Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.” The 2026 midterm election is pitting democracy against authoritarianism. We are having an election, but the conditions under which it is taking place have been so corrupted that its integrity and outcome are at serious risk. 

The challenges to maintaining our constitutional democracy are daunting, but they can be overcome if we each do our part to secure this election. Panic is not helpful! Remember that you still have control over what you pay attention to. And lest you worry about being too partisan, remember that the current administration would make partisanship obsolete through decimating our two-party system. 

Faith leaders and people of faith have an important role to play, not for any given candidate or party, but out of a conviction every American is created in God’s image and if they are eligible to vote, their vote should be counted. The successes of the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Apartheid Movement depended on faith voices asserting belief in “liberty and justice for all,” in word and in deed.