A Boulder, Colo., church that is serving as a polling location has chosen to leave up its anti-abortion display for Election Day
ABC NEWS
The Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church has left up signs and crosses
meant to represent aborted fetuses as part of an October "Respect Life"
month display on church grounds where Boulder County voters came to cast their votes today.
Molly Tayer,
Boulder County's deputy clerk and election coordinator, told
ABCNews.com that she had contacted the church regarding the removal of
the religious signage when it was brought to her attention a few weeks
ago.
She said was told initially that the display would be taken down come the first weekend of November.
But Tayer got a call back on Friday from the church to let her know that "father has decided not to take it down."
"We feel badly that we didn't realize that this wasn't going to be taken
down this weekend, otherwise I would have tried to make other
accommodations [for voters]," Tayer said. "After you advertise a polling place, it's very difficult to change."
Church representatives had signed a contract to serve as a polling place in April, said Tayer. While there are regulations preventing electioneering - handing out
materials, posting yard signs - within 100 feet of an actual polling site, the church has not violated these rules, Tayer said. According to Karna Swanson,
spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Denver, officials had previously
come to the church, surveyed the exhibit, and found no violation.
"You're going to have some religious signs around if you use the church as a polling site," said Swanson.
While she hasn't heard many people complain as of Election Day, Tayer
said that "a number of our voting population found [the display]
offensive."
This is the second time the church has served as a polling site, Tayer said.
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