Honolulu AP: Several Hawaii churches are uniting to register tens of thousands of new voters in hopes of influencing 2010 elections for the Legislature and governor's office.

Hawaii Family Forum is leading the effort, which also includes several Protestant Churches, the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, and the Mormon Church.

Federal tax law bars churches from endorsing or supporting candidates.

But the effort's leaders want to remind churches around the state that they can educate parishioners about candidate positions on important issues, register voters and conduct get-out-the-vote drives.

Motivating them is opposition to now-stalled legislation that would allow same-gender couples to enter into civil unions.

Abortion and gambling are top concerns.

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Chart compares number of union members vs adult citizen church members.  Even in the 2nd most unionized US state (NY is #1), churches are 64% larger than unions.

Printout: Graphs showing number of church voters vs union voters -- Graph 1 , Graph 2 

CONTACT:

website:  Hawaii Christian Coalition 

EMAIL: info@hi-christian.com

Telephone: 808-842-0707

website: www.hawaiifamilyforum.org

6301 Pali Highway, Kaneohe, HI  96744-5224

Phone:  (808) 203-6704  Fax:  (808) 261-7022

E-Mail:  info@hawaiifamilyforum.org

RELATED: 

July 4: Hawaii Churches to kick off massive voter registration drive

Churches Are Key to Creating Two-Party Political System for Hawaii