Nonprofit Voter Mobilization

Nonprofit Voter Mobilization: Background Analysis Blog

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Veterans Administration Again Reverses Itself to Allow Some Voter Registration Drives 09/23/2008
Over the past several months, support has been growing to allow voter registration efforts at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. In a reverse of policy, the VA will no longer ban voter registration drives for veterans living at federally operated nursing homes, shelters for the homeless, and rehabilitation centers across the country. A week after this change, the House passed the Veterans Voter Support Act to legislatively protect such activity and to ensure that the VA allow voter registration drives by nonpartisan groups. However, the VA told a Senate committee that it opposes the legislation in its current form. Read More

Voter Purging Allegations Arise as November Election Nears 09/23/2008
As the November elections near, more allegations of voter purging are cropping up. Michigan, a closely watched swing state in the presidential election, has been a hotbed of voter purging issues in recent weeks. Florida, another swing state, also finds itself in the midst of voter purging issues. Nonprofit organizations, individual citizens, and political parties have recently filed lawsuits alleging that voters are being unlawfully removed from the eligible voter pools. Read More

Federal Court Denies Injunction and Upholds Strict Voter Registration Fines in Florida 08/19/2008
On Aug. 6, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied the League of Women Voters of Florida's (LWVF) request for a preliminary injunction to prevent a harsh voter registration law from taking affect. The law levies substantial fines on organizations that register voters and that do not promptly deliver the completed voter registration forms to the Florida Division of Elections. While the law does prescribe tougher penalties for willful misconduct, it does not grant exemptions for undue hardships or for inadvertent errors. Read More

Voter Registration Barriers Challenged in New Mexico, at Veterans Affairs 08/05/2008
Throughout the country, new rules on nonpartisan voter registration efforts are making nonprofit voter mobilization drives more difficult — and groups are fighting these rules. After the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) May 5 directive banning voter registration drives at veterans' facilities, a multi-front advocacy effort developed to get the VA to change its policy. Voting rights advocates also have been fighting state restrictions, including a New Mexico voter registration law. Read More

OMB Watch Calls for Clear IRS Rules for Election Activities 06/10/2008
In response to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) request for input on its 2008-09 guidance priorities, OMB Watch submitted comments that stated the top IRS priority should be the creation of a bright-line definition of prohibited political intervention for charities and religious organizations exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The IRS is continuing its public education efforts to inform groups about the prohibition on partisan election activities and will soon release two field directives for IRS agents to guide them in enforcing the rules. Read More

Veterans Administration Bars Voter Registration Drives for Wounded Soldiers 05/13/2008
On April 25, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued Directive 2008-023, "Voting Assistance for VA Patients," allowing voter registration drives in VA hospitals, only to reverse itself on May 5 with Directive 2008-025. Without registration drives, it appears that each veteran will have to request support individually, placing the burden on veterans who are staying in hospitals, long-term care facilities, or nursing homes. Litigation on the issue is pending. Read More

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

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