Recent efforts to reform and modernize the voter system have received bipartisan support. The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which would allow overseas troops and American citizens to access voter information online, passed Congress last week with bipartisan support from legislators who "decried an antiquated voting system that left as many as one out of four overseas ballots uncounted," according to Roll Call.

In August, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would enable individuals who voted by absentee ballot to track the status of their ballots online. Also, a bill that would expand no-excuse absentee voting has passed in the House Administration Committee.

Another bill currently before Congress would "require all states to offer online voter registration by 2012," according to Roll Call. This would be a major challenge for the vast majority of the country and would require most states to significantly upgrade their procedures. Currently, "only six states offer some form of online voter registration, while half allow voters to verify their registration online. For most states, the voting system is a hodgepodge of snail mail, voter registration drives and polling places," according to Roll Call.

The online voter registration bill would bring the voter registration process in line with the convenience of other aspects of daily living. "Many voters expect to be able to register to vote online as part of their normal routine," Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the sponsor of the bill, told Roll Call. "They are used to the convenience of online tools in their daily life and registering to vote should be just as easy and accessible as banking and bill paying," Lofgren said.

Brian Fallon, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee spokesman, told Roll Call that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the committee, is "working on a bill to ‘modernize’ the voting system."

Republicans have some concerns about voter fraud, but agree that the system should be modernized.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), the chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, wrote to President Barack Obama supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as a voter registration agency. The letter states: "The Veterans Voting Support Act, offered by Senator Feinstein and co-sponsored by myself and you-when you were in the Senate-would have required the Department of Veterans Affair to provide nonpartisan registration services to the veterans it serves. During the debate over the Veterans Voting Support Act, we heard from veterans groups, state election officials, disability advocates and voting rights organizations. They all urged a great role in voter registration for the VA. Many of those organizations supported an immediate 'designation' of the VA to register veterans."

The National Voter Registration Act requires that designated social service agencies provide materials to eligible voters who visit their locations. Schumer suggests that through an executive order, President Obama includes veterans' affairs offices among the specially designated agencies.

Last year the VA remained adamantly opposed to allowing nonpartisan groups to register veterans on VA property. Groups continuously faced barriers and were even restricted from providing logistical information, such as details on new voting machines. According to Schumer's press release, "some 5.5 million veterans are not registered to vote. Making registration materials available at veterans' affairs agencies could put a significant dent in this number since, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, these offices serve an estimated 5 million individuals each year."

Schumer also suggested that other agencies assist with voter registration, such as regional offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

A BNA Money and Politics ($$) report addressed a Feb. 20 technical advice memorandum (TAM 200908050) discussing whether a 501(c)(3) organization had intervened in a political campaign by including partisan content from an affiliated 501(c)(4) on its website. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concluded that since every page of the site contained the 501(c)(3)'s banner logo, including those paid for by the 501(c)(4), the organizations had engaged in a joint communication. The 501(c)(4) site had candidate questionnaires and endorsements (with the banner of the (c)(3)), and therefore the 501(c)(3) had intervened in a political campaign by distributing campaign endorsements. The IRS's position was based on the facts and circumstances.

"While it is perfectly logical for a 501(c)(3) organization to link to its related 501(c)(4) Web site from its home page, 'you should recognize that the two are in fact separate organizations with their own communications, and once you start combining them they become a combined communication,' Judith Kindell, an Internal Revenue Service senior technical adviser in the exempt organizations area, said."

Is this now an opportunity for the IRS to issue rules on what exactly constitutes political campaign intervention? According to Marcus Owens, an attorney with Caplin & Drysdale, the IRS "could at least come up with guidance that would address speech during worship service that would clear up questions of inferential intervention—when a religious leader makes statements from the pulpit, which imply support or opposition to a candidate, without expressly saying so."

But then there is the question of whether some groups want the facts and circumstances test, because it allows groups to test the waters more as to what they can and can not do. "Kindell's response was to ask whether the sector really wanted a facts and circumstances test—or rules." According to the BNA article, Senator Charles Grassley's (R-IA) tax counsel suggested there could be more inquiries into the nonprofit sector, particularly religious organizations, in the Form 990 filings. Meanwhile, the IRS is requesting comments on the on the redesigned Form 990. The IRS is also seeking comments on how the Exempt Organizations site can be improved, and on an academic program for institutions that offer degrees related to the nonprofit sector.

Two nonprofit organizations that engaged in a direct mail campaign targeting a group of state legislators sued the New Mexico Secretary of State for requiring that they register as political committees. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Civic Policy and Southwest Organizing Project. Before the June primary, the groups send out fliers addressing several lawmakers' voting records, and all but one was up for re-election. In August New Mexico Attorney General Gary King asserted that the activities crossed the line into campaigning. The Secretary of State ordered both groups to register as political committees and comply with the Campaign Reporting Act by reporting contributions and expenditures.

The groups say their mailers were related to a coming special session of the Legislature, not the election. The lawsuit states that registering with the state would violate their First Amendment rights and that both groups engage in issue advocacy, not express advocacy for the election or defeat of political candidates.