Archbishop Asks Priests to Abstain From Voting Tuesday

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis is asking priests in Minnesota to forgo voting in the presidential primary election on Tuesday over concerns about the privacy of voter party preferences.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda wrote about his concerns in a letter to priests this week. Under the new system, voters must request the party ballot they want and that preference is recorded and sent to the chairs of all four majority political parties in the state.

Hebda wrote in his letter to clergy that the voting could be seen as partisan politics.