Nonprofit Voter Mobilization

Nonprofit Voter Mobilization: Background Analysis Blog

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States Failing to Implement Critical Voting Rights Laws 04/15/2008
On April 1, the House Committee on Administration's Subcommittee on Elections held a hearing on state-level implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), in particular a provision that was designed to enable low-income Americans to register to vote more readily. According to testimony by witnesses at the hearing, many states are not offering voter registration at public assistance agencies and are failing to live up to the promise of the NVRA to provide more equal access to the opportunity to vote. Read More

Robocall Regulation Debate Heats Up 04/15/2008
Controversy over S. 2624, the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008, has increased in recent weeks following a February Senate committee hearing. Labeled as an affront to First Amendment speech rights, an unwelcome infringement upon citizen-to-citizen communication, and unconstitutionally vague and overly broad, this bill has forced political pundits, consultants, and politicians to debate what constitutes "core political speech" and how best to utilize robocalls. Some consultants in the automated call industry are seeking donations for the Legal Defense Fund of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), and others are partnering with the National Political Do-Not-Contact Registry. Read More

Senate Looks at Claims that Voter Fraud Justifies Photo ID Requirements 03/18/2008
The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration held a hearing March 12 on the controversial tactics states and the federal government have used and proposed in response to claims of voter fraud. Senators who testified were sharply divided along partisan lines. Democrats argued that voter fraud is a false pretence used to justify laws that disenfranchise poor, minority, and elderly voters, but Republicans asserted that the problem is real and needs to be addressed. Nonpartisan witnesses cautioned lawmakers against exaggerating the extent of any election fraud. Read More

House Committee Hearing Highlights Lax Enforcement of Voting Rights 03/04/2008
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing on Feb. 26 to examine the problems of voter suppression and poor enforcement of voting rights. The hearing largely focused on the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) lax enforcement of voting rights mandates in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Evidence of tactics to prevent people from voting (voter suppression) was also presented. Read More

Ohio Restrictions on Voter Registration Drives Overturned 02/20/2008
On Feb. 11, a federal judge in Ohio issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of a state law restricting voter registration activities. The Ohio law in question in Project Vote v. Blackwell limited the ability of third parties such as nonprofits to register citizens to vote in the state. Voting rights advocates hailed the decision as a victory for minority, disabled, and low-income voters who often rely on nonprofits to help with registration. 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

Nonprofits Challenge Two Florida Laws Regulating Voter Registration 09/25/2007
Nonprofit groups have launched two separate efforts to challenge voter registration laws passed by the Florida legislature that would suppress voting, especially among minority populations. First, the U.S. Department of Justice has been asked to reject a recently passed law that would discourage nonprofit voter registration drives by making it difficult to collect and submit completed registration forms in batches. Second, a lawsuit was filed Sept. 18 challenging a requirement that all voter registration applications match Social Security or driver's license numbers. When spelling errors or other glitches occur, voters are required to go through a complicated process that discourages voting. Read More

Senate Bill Bans States from Limiting Nonprofit Voter Registration Drives 08/07/2007
On July 25, the Senate Rules Committee held a hearing on an election reform bill that includes a provision that would prevent states from placing undue restrictions on voter registration drives by nonprofits. During the last several years, there has been an increase in the number of voters registered through voter registration drives conducted by charities and other third parties, such as the League of Women Voters and ACORN. Discussion of the bill before the committee — the Ballot Integrity Act of 2007 (S. 1487) — largely focused, however, on provisions that mandate paper records for all electronic voting machines. Read More

Panel Discussion Focuses on Need for Clear Rules for 501(c)(3) Groups at Election Time 08/07/2007
On Aug. 3, OMB Watch sponsored a panel discussion to address the pros and cons of creating a bright line rule defining what is and is not prohibited partisan intervention in elections by charities and religious organizations. The panelists addressed problems created by the current "facts and circumstances" test, which allows the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to apply its interpretation of the standard on a case by case basis. They also discussed action the nonprofit sector can take to propose and promote a bright line test. Read More

U.S. Attorney Firings Expose Political Nature of Attack on ACORN's Voter Mobilization Efforts 07/10/2007
Current congressional investigations into the Bush administration's 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys have revealed that one motivation behind the firings may have been the attorneys' refusal to pursue allegations of voter fraud as aggressively as the administration would have liked. Unfortunately, the attorneys were not the only casualty of the hunt for voter fraud. ACORN — an organization dedicated to empowering low-income communities across the country — also became a victim in what appears to be a politically motivated assault on its voter registration efforts. Read More

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