An editorial in Ohio's Columbus Post Dispatch encourages support for the role nonprofits play in registering voters, and applauds the Ballot Integrity Act of 2007. The measure prohibits states from passing any laws that hinder voter-registration drives.

Yesterday the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal hosted a forum titled, "Should Nonprofit Organizations Play an Active Role in Election Campaigns?" Nonprofit leaders Pablo Eisenberg and Robert Egger both wrote separate opinion pieces in The Chronicle of Philanthropy that initiated the forum where the two continued this debate that developed into a discussion on the state of the nonprofit sector.

Egger, president of the D.C. Central Kitchen, said charities should be allowed to openly endorse candidates for political office, while Eisenberg, a Georgetown University scholar, said doing so would not be tolerated by taxpayers who expect the money they donate to charities to go to causes and not politics. Accurately, Eisenberg commented that nonprofits can in fact become involved in issues that are related to elections and the law allows some lobbying. Unfortunately many are either scared to cross the line, unacquainted with the laws so they simply do not lobby, and many of the foundations that fund nonprofits discourage such advocacy. Nonprofits can be blamed for not utilizing the means available to become politically engaged. Egger wants a discussion on innovation, to use any means possible to bring about change. The two actually agreed on a great deal, and one of the most distinguishing points was that Egger wants charities to be able to explicitly endorse candidates. Both agreed that charities need visionaries and new leadership as the discussion grew to address the future of the sector. A transcript of the forum will be available online by Aug.16.

If the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to look to the web sites that nonprofits link to for any prohibited campaign intervention, how would the IRS respond to organizations that have created election related web sites that have links to information on the candidates' positions on issues and the official candidates' sites? The Chronicle on Philanthropy ($$) directs us to two specific sites, www.health08.org and www.247townahll.org. While not endorsing any candidate, Health08.org was created by the Kaiser Family Foundation to provide health-care information and a comparison of the candidates' positions and proposals. The One Economy Corporation, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to fighting poverty, organized a national forum called "Poverty in America" on its web site 247townhall.org. I am curious how the IRS would respond to this considering they consider nonprofits to be responsible for the content on the sites it links to, and wants groups to review the web site connections.

Working Assets, the phone company that helps people donate to nonprofit groups when they use their services, has begun a nationwide effort to register new voters. Working Assets has partnered with nonprofits Women's Voices. Women Vote. - WVWV - (www.wvwv.org) and Project Vote (www.projectvote.org) to register new voters in 2008. This partnership is meant to reach a diverse population to increase voter registration and participation. "With the presidential campaigns heating up earlier than ever before, the stakes have never been higher, so it's important that people have a say in the outcome."

The campaign gives members easy ways to make a contribution to reach single women, minorities, and the poor -- three groups that have traditionally lagged behind other Americans in the democratic process -- just by adding a tax-deductible donation to their August bill payment. Additionally, anyone can make a donation online at WorkingAssets.com/onemillion. All contributions made through phone bills and online are matched 100 percent, up to $500,000.

To register to vote, GOVOTE.ORG: Online Voter Registration from Working Assets and Mobile Voter

Today OMB Watch has released a new report on the role of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations in elections. How Nonprofits Helped America Vote: 2006 describes nonprofits' electoral engagement during the 2006 election and their preparation for upcoming elections. The work of nonprofits is vital to increase civic participation, and nonprofits should be encouraged to continue this type of activity as the election season looms near.

Read How Nonprofits Helped America Vote: 2006