We are volunteers with an organization called Faiths United to Save Democracy, which is doing its work in conjunction with Sojourners.  It is a nonpartisan effort to serve shifts outside of polling sites to offer support and protection to voters, making sure every vote is counted. We are trained, nonpartisan, multifaith, multicultural, multigenerational volunteers — clergy and lay — who ensure the voting process is fair and unhindered in 10 states where there are the deepest concerns for free and fair voting.

I then went through the training process, which involved learning about the rules associated with being a nonpartisan presence at the polls and being trained in nonviolent de-escalation. I was also trained in the official role of a poll chaplain, specifically to act as a moral presence, provide practical assistance to voters, protect voters from intimidation and report any instances of voter suppression to the lawyer hot line. Our main goal is to make sure that anyone who can vote legally can also do so safely and freely.

Since my sisters and I don’t live in one of the 10 states where poll chaplains are being assigned, we said we were  open to go wherever we were most needed. The group’s objective is to assign chaplains to polling places within zip codes identified as vulnerable locations, generally impoverished areas where voter suppression efforts like new voter identification requirements or barriers to mail-in voting have occurred or where threats of violence have taken place.

We arrived before election day to spend two days working at the Hamilton County Election Center, where all residents of Cincinnati can take part in early voting. On Friday, we went to the site get the lay of the land and introduce ourselves to the election coordinators and Saturday arrived just after 8 a.m. to serve our role as peacekeepers and poll chaplain.

Ohio has very strict rules that people cannot be within 100 feet of those to vote, so we went to the most partisan area in front of the entry to the election center. It was a place that everyone voting needed to pass by.

The area was divided into three parts: on one side there were Republicans another there were Democrats and inbetween there was a space for a nonpartisan constitutional amendment about gerrymandering.

When we arrived, we introduced ourselves to people on both sides. It was interesting because initially the folks on one side were very warm and receptive assuming that I was like-minded and saw Jesus the same way they did. The other side viewed us with more skepticism initially. However, those attitudes shifted as the day unfolded.

During the eight hours that we were there, I would say our main responsibility was literally to put our bodies in the gap between the two sides to prevent them from becoming confrontational or worse. This past week, the  county sheriff had to be brought in to try to calm the rising tensions of two very divergent groups standing next to each other.

Our objective was to engage with everyone in a peaceful nonpartisan manner and encourage people to be their best selves and not engage in direct confrontation.

On one occasion, a woman from one side was being very, very vocal and basically looking for a fight. That is how I would describe her posture the entire day. A person on the opposite side was beginning to respond to them, and I spoke to another individual with whom I had spoken earlier and suggested that perhaps they encourage that individual to ignore this woman because it was very clear that she wanted people to engage with her. The woman initiating the yelling was itching to get into a fight when the other side responded to her angry shouts.

I shared with one person one of my favorite Bible passages that guides my engagement with people with whom I disagree. “If your enemy is hungry, give them something to eat, and if they are thirsty, give them something to drink because in doing so you will heap hot cold upon their head. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:20-21.

It seemed to work because the direct confrontation decreased remarkably. And by physically putting ourselves between the yelling on the two sides, we allowed the two groups to be next to each other without engaging.

It wasn’t without its challenges. At one point, a couple of women began berating me because my badge used the word democracy, and they insisted that that meant I was a Democrat. I explained that we were nonpartisan, but they were insistent that if I supported democracy, I was a Democrat because we are a republic not a democracy. I was called ignorant and didn’t understand basic civics and called a few names. But I remained  calm and said we nonpartisan and we were just encouraging people to be their best selves and be peaceful.

Another woman questioned my Christianity and a few other things thinking I was standing on the side of the Democrats. I explained that I was in a nonpartisan zone and was not there on one side or the other. She later said to my sister that she learned not to make assumptions, so I must’ve made some headway.

My sisters also had their own encounters, but we all remained above the fray and I think really successfully helped keep the peace, at least for now. One woman told my sister that if her side loses, they won’t take it and they’re armed. They were banking for a fight. Sadly, some of what we heard was extremely disturbing and to be honest, downright scary.

My hope and prayer was that our presence would help elevate the conversation and remind people that we are on our best when we don’t wallow in the mud. At one point, one side started chanting “USA” and the others joined in so both sides were chanting loudly “USA USA.” At this point, I looked at people from both sides and said, “I guess my work is done. We found something we can agree on.”

By the end of the day, we were all completely exhausted but felt that we had done good and meaningful work.  I would be a liar if I did not admit that the day made me even more concerned about what’s going to happen Wednesday and beyond based on some of the things I heard from one group determined not to “let us steal another election.” But for today at least, we helped keep the peace.