VOTE for life

Why Local Elections matter

Early voting is going on now through Tuesday, April 30th, with election day on Saturday, May 4th. Why should you vote in local elections?

  1. Hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars in bond issues are being proposed. Do you approve of what that money is being spent on?
  2. City Council members, school board representatives, and amendments to city charters are all on the ballot. Local governments have great power – setting your taxes, holding elections, and overseeing law enforcement. These races could affect you and your family. Changes could be in the works that you disagree with, but if you don’t vote, you may be out of luck.
  3. Fewer people vote in local elections, meaning your individual vote counts even more.

Voters’ ballots vary from county to county. Check out your county elections department website to pull your sample ballot and find out what you will be voting on.

Here are links to the sample ballots in Dallas County and in Collin County.  (You can build a sample ballot, print it out and take it with you on election day.)

How can you decide who to vote for?

  1. Look at the races. See who is running for your district.
  2. Do the candidates have Facebook pages? What are they supporting?
  3. Do they have a website? Can you submit questions to them?
  4. Read about them. Are they experienced? Do they have résumés posted online?
  5.  Google their names. Do they have events listed where you could go meet them in person?

People of faith need to support their convictions by voting as they believe. If only half of Christians faithfully voted their consciences , we could have a culture of life.

We as Catholics are called to participate as faithful citizens in elections. For resources in preparation for voting, visit the Faithful Citizenship website (faithfulcitizenship.org) sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Resources to Prepare to Vote  Prayers for Our Nation

"There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called ‘intrinsically evil' actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. In our nation, ‘abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others' (Living the Gospel of Life, no. 5). It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice. A legal system that violates the basic right to life on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed."

- Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (22)

"Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country:

Pay to all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
[Christians] reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They participate in all things as citizens and endure all things as foreigners. . . . They obey the established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws. . . . So noble is the position to which God has assigned them that they are not allowed to desert it.

The Apostle exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise authority, 'that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.'"

- Catechism of the Catholic Church (2240)

Prayers

Schedule a Presentation

The Catholic Pro-Life Community provides bilingual Faithful Citizenship presentations to parishes in the Diocese of Dallas upon request. If you are outside the diocese, we are happy to provide you a template for these presentations.

If you are interested in having a speaker present at your parish email or call , 972-267-LIFE (5433).
 

Resources and Helpful Links

Catholic sites

  • faithfulcitizenship.org – Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States
  • usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities – Prime resource for U.S. Bishops’ pro-life policy and teaching statements
  • txcatholic.org – Texas Catholic Conference, the official public policy voice of the Texas Bishops

Government

Additional

  • nchla.org – In coordination with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, NCHLA provides educational and program resources, facilitates communications with government representatives and leaders, and presents legislative seminars.
  • endroe.org – Project of NCHLA, conducted in collaboration with legal experts, to accurately present what the U.S. Supreme Court said and did in Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton and related cases, and to explain why Roe and Doe are fundamentally erroneous decisions.
  • secondlookproject.org – Media campaign of the U.S. Bishops presenting basic facts concerning abortion.
  • feministsforlife.org – Research and articles regarding the travesty of linking abortion to women’s rights.
  • prolifedallas.org/education – Online resources on life issues provided by the Catholic Pro-Life Community, the Respect Life Ministry of the Diocese of Dallas.

 

CONTACT US

Civic Action: 
972-267-LIFE (5433)