Elections and Issue Advocacy

Elections and Issue Advocacy: News Background Analysis Correspondence Blog

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See our Nov. 2007 report Overcaution and Confusion: The Impact of Ambiguous IRS Regulation of Political Activities by Charities and the Potential for Change

PACI2

The report is drawn from an Aug. 3, 2007 panel discussion on the potential for establishing a bright-line rule for IRS enforcement of the prohibition against partisan intervention in elections by charities and religious organizations.

See our report The IRS Political Activities Enforcement Program for Nonprofit Groups: Questions & Concerns

Subtopics

Click here for Resource Center: IRS Rules on Election Activities of Charities

News

IRS to Continue Flawed Enforcement Program on Partisan Activities 04/29/2008
In an April 17 letter, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that its enforcement program on partisan activities by charities and religious organizations will remain in effect for the 2008 election season. The IRS announcement provided some helpful information on how the agency will consider cases involving charities' websites, but it muddied the waters for organizations that publish voter guides. The announcement does little to mitigate the vagueness of the standard, a problem Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) addressed in a hearing where he called for a bright-line rule defining what is and is not allowed.

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List of Known PACI Complaints 03/12/2008
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI) enforces the ban on partisan activity by charities and religious organizations. On June 8, 2007 the IRS released a report on the initial results of its 2006 program." The results of the enforcement program to date show a continued low level of violations, with the number of 2006 investigations remaining about the same compared to 2004. The types of activities selected for investigation indicate that many cases occur in gray areas of the law, such as allowing candidates to speak at organizational functions or distributing printed materials. Read More

Investigation of United Church of Christ Shows IRS Rules Need Fixing 03/04/2008
On Feb. 20, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent the United Church of Christ (UCC) national office a letter announcing the agency has launched an investigation because there is "reasonable belief" that the church violated the ban on partisan electioneering, based on a June 23, 2007, speech by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) at the church's 50th General Synod. The investigation has generated strong reactions, and as details emerge, it is clear that this case highlights the inherent weakness of the IRS's facts and circumstances test as a regulatory standard defining what is and is not partisan electioneering. Read More

Senate Bill Would Regulate Robocalls during Election Campaigns 02/20/2008
On Feb. 12, Senate Rules Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 2624, the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008. The bill would place restrictions on how and when prerecorded messages, known as robocalls, can be made 30 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election. The bill would only affect prerecorded calls, not calls made by volunteers at phone banks. Read More

SpeechNow Challenges FEC Contribution Limits for Independent Political Groups 02/20/2008
SpeechNow.org, an independent organization whose stated mission is to advocate for the election of federal candidates who favor free political speech, has filed a lawsuit challenging federal campaign finance laws that prohibit contributions of more than $5,000 per year to political committees as an unconstitutional violation of free speech and association rights. Read More

More Blurry Lines: IRS Warns on Web Links, Primaries Continue to Generate Complaints to Agency 02/05/2008
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned that links from 501(c)(3) organization websites to other sites may be considered partisan if the facts and circumstances of the link indicate support or opposition for candidates. In addition, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) lodged new complaints about possible partisan intervention in elections, which involve voter guides and the content of a newsletter. Read More

Supreme Court Asked to Hear Challenge to New FEC Rule on Issue Ads 01/23/2008
In December 2007, Citizens United, a 501(c)(4) organization, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia claiming that television ads for its film, Hillary: The Movie, should not be subject to donor disclosure requirements under FEC rules. On Jan. 15, a three-judge panel ruled against the group. The organization has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its case. The suit is a response to the FEC's new rule implementing the Supreme Court's Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) decision that allows genuine issue broadcasts to air in the period before federal elections. Read More

Primary Season Generates Complaints about Church Engagement in Partisan Activities 01/23/2008
The 2008 presidential campaign is in full swing, and so is the debate over what charities and religious organizations can say or do without violating the tax code's ban on partisan electoral activity. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which enforces the law through its Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI) program, has already received numerous requests for investigations, and one church has challenged it to investigate a 2006 sermon. The controversy reflects a healthy interest in public affairs within the nonprofit sector, as well as an unhealthy uncertainty about what is allowed in many election-related activities. Read More

FEC Approves Rule Exempting Issue Advocacy from Broadcast Ban 12/04/2007
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved a final rule exempting some issue-related broadcasts from the electioneering communications rule. The old rule banned corporations — including nonprofits — and unions from paying for such ads within 60 days of a federal general election or 30 days of a primary, if the ads referred to a federal candidate. The new rule is the FEC's response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life case, which struck down the ban as applied to grassroots lobbying. The new rule does not provide a specific standard. Instead, there is a safe harbor for some grassroots lobbying broadcasts, and the rest of the rule lists criteria for the FEC to decide if a communication is allowable on a case-by-case basis. It also requires donor disclosure for these non-electoral messages. Read More

Nonprofits Object to Poison Pill Amendment in Senate Campaign Finance Disclosure Bill 11/20/2007
A long-standing effort to require campaigns for the U.S. Senate to file their campaign finance reports electronically has hit a new roadblock. An amendment offered by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) would infringe on contributor privacy rights by requiring donor disclosure by groups that file Senate ethics complaints. An ideologically diverse group of nonprofits sent a letter to Senate leadership voicing opposition to this proposal, saying the amendment's clear intent is "to discourage organizations from taking action to keep government accountable." Read More

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