Truth In 501(c)(3) Voter Registration Drives
Look Ahead America’s Support of January 6 “political prisoners” includes rallies and complaints to the United Nations.
We all know that charitable voter registration drives have to be nonpartisan. Mostly they aren’t but they are supposed to be. But do they have to be truthful? That’s the issue between Virginia Attorney General’s Office and a MAGA organization called Look Ahead America, whose raison d’etre is RET, which stands for “register, educate, and turn-out.” The turn-out LAA very obviously seeks is that which will return DJT back into the White House, but I am not bothered by barely disguised partisanship. And don’t laugh, LAA pulled in nearly $1 million in donations its very first year, according to its 990. Anyway, the other side is motivated by the same partisanship, only much better disguised in most instances. What got the AG’s goat, though are statements he quotes in a October 10 cease and desist letter:
It has come to our attention that you are distributing election-related materials— including mailers, flyers, and door hangers—containing false and/or misleading information to voters in Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier Counties. Some of these materials contain statements that are intimidating or threatening to voters. For example, one of the messages states: “Failure to vote may result in a loss of: Social Security Income, Medicare Eligibility, Unemployment Benefits, Child Tax Credits and Child Custody Rights, Concealed Carry Permit.” It further states: “Failure to vote may also result in seizure of personal assets, including but not limited to firearms, bank accounts, cars, and real estate.” Another message states that “[g]etting an absentee ballot . . . may prevent the loss of government benefits, tax credits, and seizure of your personal assets.” These statements are patently false and can serve no other purpose than to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a potential voter.
The AG cites a statute criminalizing intimidation or coercion of voters but its a longshot, okay. C’mon. LAA’s counsel says as much in his “kiss my butt” response. Read it yourself and you’ll see that’s what he said over a page and a half. I’d say counsel has a strong case too. He even relied on 501(c)(3) in defending the right to tell lies to get people to vote:
Second, my client’s materials are not intimidating or threatening any individual to give their vote to a specific candidate or to give their vote in support of a specific issue, and the materials are clearly not seeking to prevent anyone from voting. Rather, the materials distributed are encouraging people to cast a vote because important issues that are likely important to all Virginia citizens are at issue in this election. Pursuant to its nonprofit status with the Internal Revenue Service, my client is allowed to distribute information to voters and engage in nonpartisan get-out-the-vote activities. Communications such as these are squarely within the protections of the First Amendment, as they are disseminating nonpartisan political information for voters about issues presented in upcoming elections.
The answer to the question, must voter registration drives be truthful to retain tax exemption, is obviously “yes.” Except that the government may not arbitrate truth so pretty much everything is true. At least so far as government can be concerned. Charitable voter registrars can lie all they want, they just can be partisan. The problem is that “partisan” might be about as capable of objective truth as truth itself.
darryll k. jones