NP Action - Can Churches Get Involved in Elections? ("Hey, You Asked" Answer)

Can Churches Get Involved in Elections? ("Hey, You Asked" Answer)

An NPAction user asks: "I recently read that the Bush campaign has been emailing people in Pennsylvania and asking them to organize "friendly congregations" where supporters can meet, sign up voters, and generally campaign for the Bush/Cheney ticket. As far as I know, churches are 501(c)(3) organizations and can't participate in partisan electioneering. Is this legal?"

The short answer is that this is probably not legal because religious and charitable organizations are strictly prohibited from electioneering (working for the election of a specific candidate or party). The Bush/Cheney campaign claims that its email is legal because they are asking individuals within the congregations to speak to other individuals in their church. However, the email asks these individuals to take action that could involve their congregations in partisan activity and endanger their tax exempt status.

The campaign's email (see full text below) says the campaign is looking for "'Friendly Congregations' in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush might gather on a regular basis." It further states that the re-election campaign would like to distribute general information "to supporters." But the congregation's tax status prohibits it from being friendly or unfriendly to any candidate, and from supporting or opposing them.

If a congregation provided all candidates for the same office with the same opportunity to get information to members there would be no legal problem. But any activity that uses church resources for partisan purposes is not legal.

Partisan communication by or between individuals, even if they belong to a religious organization, is perfectly legal. For a good resource on this issue see Guidelines for Candidate Campaign Activity by Individuals Associated with a 501(c)(3) Charity.

Churches (and other 501(c)(3)s) can conduct nonpartisan voter registration drives, sponsor candidate debates and candidate briefings, and publish voter guides. All of these activities must be nonpartisan and all viable candidates and parties must be included. Many religious organization have been taking part in these activities for years. For more information on these activities see IRS Allows Nonpartisan Voter Education and Participation Activity by Charities or the resources listed below.

Religious organizations and charities can also participate in issue advocacy and lobbying. For example a church can freely hand out a flyer that says "stop abortion" but it cannot hand out one that says "stop abortion, vote Bush/Cheney."

Some conservative church leaders are balking at Bush campaign's request to get directly involved in Bush's election campaign. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention was quoted by the New York Times as saying "If I were a pastor, I would not be comfortable doing that. I would say to my church members, 'We are going to talk about the issues, and we are going to take information from the platforms of the two parties about where they stand on the issues.' I would tell them to vote and to vote their conscience."

While churches that are sympathetic to the Bush/Cheney campaign might feel that they can bend the IRS rules to support the incumbent, there is no guarantee that they will not lose their tax exempt status. This is dangerous ground for a church to tread, no matter what the situation.

There is more detailed information on what your charity can and can't do this election season available at NPAction:

Full Text of the Bush Campaign email:

Subject: Lead Your Congregation for President Bush

Dear [recipient]: The Bush-Cheney '04 national headquarters in Virginia has asked us to identify 1600 "Friendly Congregations" in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush might hather on a regular basis. In each of these friendly congregations, we would like to identify a volunteer coordinator who can help distribute general informatin to supporters. I'd like to ask if you would like to serve as a coordinator in your place of worship. We plan to undertake activities such as distributing general information/updates or voter registration materials in a place accessible to the congregation. If you are interested" [contact info given].