(WHTM) — Many people may be inspired to run for office in Pennsylvania, however it is important to understand the laws one must follow to run for an elected position in the state legislature.
In the original 1776 Pennsylvania Constitution, it was required for all members of the House of Representatives to declare their belief in “one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked.” The section said elected officials had to acknowledge the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
According to the City University of New York, after the American Revolution, some questioned the validity of intertwining church and state, including limiting office-holding to those of a particular faith and paying taxes to support state-authorized churches. In 1790, the religious qualification was removed.
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Over 170 years later, in 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a state requiring an elected official to believe in God to hold public office was unconstitutional, violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments and making the previous provisions archaic and unenforceable.
Current Pennsylvania law says a belief in God is not required for public office, and no one can be “compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against [their] consent.”
However, in 2019, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Pennsylvania Legislature can prevent atheists from delivering opening prayer invocations.
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