The Blount County Election Commission in Tennessee will stop promoting religion after it received a Freedom From Religion Foundation communique.

A concerned Blount County resident had informed the state/church watchdog that the Blount County Election Commission had been promoting Christianity using its official communication channels. The commission sent an email to all its poll workers “celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.”

The email stated:
The Blount County Election Commissioners and staff wish you and your families an enjoyable and restful Merry Christmas filled with love and joy that comes with celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

“The Blount County Election Commission’s apparent promotion and favoritism of religion poses serious constitutional concerns,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote to Blount County Administrator of Elections Susan Knopf. “As the Supreme Court has put it, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment ‘mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.’ By distributing an official communication promoting Christianity, the election commission signals a clear preference for religion over nonreligion and Christianity over other faiths.”

While the election commission can acknowledge and celebrate the Christmas season, official communications emphasizing the religious aspects of a holiday are prohibited, FFRF emphasized. Minority religious and nonreligious citizens should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because their election commission promotes Christianity.

The FFRF missive didn’t go unheeded.

“As of 4/1/2024, Mrs. Knopf is no longer the Administrator of Elections in Blount County,” FFRF recently received an email from the Blount County Election Commission. “There are no plans to send out any similar correspondence in the future.”

FFRF is happy to see that its letter hit home.

“We’re always glad to remind government officials of their constitutional responsibilities,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It feels great when that message gets noticed.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 400 members and a chapter in Tennessee. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.