Churches unite to register and inform voters

The Hawaii Family Forum is leading an effort, which also includes several Protestant churches, the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and the Mormon Church, to register tens of thousands of new voters in hopes of influencing 2010 elections for the Legislature and governor's office.

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.

Opposition to recent unsuccessful legislation to allow same-gender couples to enter into civil unions, abortion and gambling are among the issues motivating the registration and voter-education effort.