The nation’s Protestant pastors have grown more wary of sharing their voting plans, a study released Tuesday found.
Nearly all those surveyed said they do plan to vote in the coming U.S. presidential election. But in a departure from past election seasons, a significant chunk refused to tell researchers for whom in particular they would cast their ballot.
In a Lifeway Research Study of U.S. Protestant pastors leading up to the 2016 election, 3% of respondents declined to say which candidates they backed. In the 2020 cycle, the figure was 4%.
In a study conducted between Aug. 8 and Sept. 3 of this year, however, the proportion of pastors who declined to answer the question ballooned to 23%.
The change reflects how sensitive and divisive politics has become in some churches, Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a news release.