Pray for Christians to vote and vote biblical values.

Romans 13:1

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U.S. voters are split ahead of November’s midterm elections on whether the faith of political candidates matters. More Americans said the religious faith of candidates was at least somewhat, if not very important, than those who thought it wasn’t very important or not important at all, but only by a very small margin, a poll released this week by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found.

The survey reported that 25 percent of voters think it is very or extremely important that a candidate has strong religious beliefs, while 43 percent found it not at all important or not very important. But 23 percent found strong religious beliefs to be at least moderately important for candidates.

Nearly half (47 percent) found it not important that the candidate share their faith, while 19 percent found it very important and 23 percent found it somewhat important.

The survey reflects the growing number of Americans with no religious ties but also the “real and fervent remaining group of Americans for whom religion still defines much of the rest of their lives,” said Adam Carrington, an assistant professor of politics at Hillsdale College. “While shrinking, it remains substantial enough to potentially make a significant difference in political elections in the fall.”…

But Americans see a role for faith in shaping at least some policy issues. Respondents gave the highest support for religion influencing policy toward poverty, with some 57 percent saying it should play a role, while 49 percent favored influence in education policy, 45 percent on abortion, 44 percent on healthcare, and 43 percent on immigration….

“The fact that poverty gets the high marks—even higher than abortion and marriage—is arguably the most striking aspect of the results,” said Darryl Hart, a distinguished associate professor of history at Hillsdale College….

“Polling data like this is frustrating because—while it appears to be scientific—it is far more intuitive,” he said. “The squishy wording of the questions is so vague that they are almost unclear and easy to misinterpret. The ‘influence of religion on education’ could mean prayer and Bible reading in public schools. The same goes for the way questions were posed on LGBT issues. Does that lower number mean more support for gay marriage? Hard to tell.”

Americans have generally placed a strong value on candidates having at least some religious background, with a survey by Pew Research during the 2016 presidential election finding more than half of American adults would be less likely to vote for an atheist….

Meanwhile, more than 90 percent of members of Congress describe themselves as Christians, according to Pew. (Excerpts from Anne K. Walters article in WORLD.