With only a small handful of weeks remaining until the general election, you may be wondering about how you or your nonprofit can get involved in voter assistance activities such as providing rides to the polls, registering voters, and helping voters vote by mail. Would you be surprised that these activities are often regulated by both state and federal law? On this episode, we’ll discuss our Practical Guidance Voter Assistance resources series, created in partnership with Democracy Capacity Project, and explain some of the rules you should be thinking about in the final countdown to the big day.

 

Attorneys for this episode:

Tim Mooney

Natalie Ossenfort

Victor Rivera

 

General Overview of Relevant Law

·      When engaging in any election-related activities there are several areas of law that your nonprofit should think about:

o   Internal Revenue Code: explains the types of activities your nonprofit is allowed to engage in accordance with the tax code

§  501(c)(3)s: Keep it nonpartisan. No support or opposition of candidates. Allowed to engage in campaigns for or against ballot initiatives, constitutional amendments, bond measures, city charter amendments. Just remember that this activity may count as lobbying at the federal level.

§  501(c)(4)s; (c)(5)s, (c)(6)s: Partisan political activities as secondary activities of org

§  PACs: Regulated by Section 527 of tax code. Partisan political work as focus, but different types of PACs may be restricted in terms of whether they can engage in coordinated vs. independent expenditures

o   Other federal laws, including the Federal Election Campaign Act: always going to be relevant in elections with federal candidates on the ballot

§  Provisional ballots available  even if they aren’t under state election laws (i.e. can vote provisionally for POTUS if there’s a dispute as to registration status and resolve that later)

§  Accessible ballots required under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

§  Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to provide absentee ballots for military personnel, their families, and U.S. citizens overseas in federal elections.

§  Voting Rights Act (VRA)

·      requires jurisdictions with significant populations of non-English-speaking citizens to provide bilingual election materials and assistance, ensuring all voters can understand and participate in the process.

·      allows observers from the Department of Justice or the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to monitor elections to ensure compliance with voting rights laws, especially in areas with a history of discrimination.

o   State law: Often regulates

§  Who, when, how you can register voters

§  Who is eligible to vote-by-mail (and when)

§  Line-warming activities designed to encourage voters to stay in line

§  Rules for poll watchers

§  Voter ID required in some states

§  And more!

 

Practical Guidance Voter Assistance Series

o   Focuses on state law, but also includes some federal law tips throughout

o   (Questions answered include:

o   How can our organization help people vote by mail?

o   Can we help with a rides to the polls program?

o   How can we help voters already at the polls?

o   When might our work also trigger campaign finance laws?

o   Can we advocate for a new polling place?

o   Current states:

o   Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin

o   Texas line-warming example

o   Reminder that many states don’t have polling places (in traditional sense) since they’ve shifted focus to vote-by-mail.

Resources:

·      Practical Guidance Voter Assistance Series: https://afj.org/bolder-advocacy/practical-guidance-nonprofit-voter-assistance-series/

·      Rules of the Game: Guide to Election-Related Activities for 501(c)(3)s: https://afj.org/resource/the-rules-of-the-game-a-guide-to-election-related-activities-for-501c3-organizations/

·      The Connection: https://afj.org/resource/the-connection-strategies-for-creating-and-operating-501c3s-501c4s-and-political-organizations/