Nonprofits and Voter Mobilization

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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After Supreme Court Ruling, Some Efforts to Improve Voting Rights

May 2, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

A few days after the Supreme Court upheld the Indiana voter ID law, a press release announced that Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced legislation to allow Election Day registration at polling places for all federal elections. "The Election Day Registration Act addresses chronic problems with the American electoral process — low voter turnout and archaic voter registration laws.

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League of Women Voters Challenges Florida Election Law

Apr 29, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

On Apr. 28, 2008, the League of Women Voters of Florida and several voting rights advocates filed a new lawsuit challenging a Florida voter registration law that imposes prohibitive fines on voter registration groups and risks preventing eligible Florida citizens from registering and voting in the 2008 elections.

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IRS to Continue Flawed Enforcement Program on Partisan Activities

In an April 17 letter, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that its enforcement program on partisan activities by charities and religious organizations will remain in effect for the 2008 election season. The IRS announcement provided some helpful information on how the agency will consider cases involving charities' websites, but it muddied the waters for organizations that publish voter guides. The announcement does little to mitigate the vagueness of the standard, a problem Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) addressed in a hearing where he called for a bright-line rule defining what is and is not allowed.

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Supreme Court Upholds Strict Indiana Voter ID Law

Apr 28, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Supreme Court, voting 6-3, ruled against a constitutional challenge to Indiana's voter identification law, requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID. Opponents of the law argue that having to present such a photo ID will prevent some poor, elderly and minorities from voting. The law will now be in effect for next week's Indiana primary. Bloomberg.com news says that the Court "gave Republicans an election-year victory." This recent decision could also encourage other states to pass similar measures.

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New report draws attention to 2008 primary election protection failures

Apr 25, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The National Campaign for Fair Elections, The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, and Election Protection 2008 -- the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition — released a report last week on the problems at the polls during the 2008 primary election season. The report — Election Protection 2008 Primary Report: Looking Ahead to November hopes to spur action to address issues that occurred during the primary season so as to prevent repeat problems during the November general election.

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ACORN Files Lawsuit to Force Missouri Agencies to Register Voters

Apr 25, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

On Wednesday, voting-rights advocate ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) filed suit against the state of Missouri for failing to implement a key provision of the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA") of 1993 in failing to provide voter registration opportunities at state public assistance agencies. According to ACORN's press release on the lawsuit, ACORN is seeking a preliminary injunction that would require Missouri's Department of Social Services (DSS) to come into compliance with the NVRA as soon as the court can set a hearing date.

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The Candidates and Nonprofit Issues

Apr 23, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has put together a new section of their website that has information about the presidential candidates and where they stand on the issues that matter to nonprofit causes. The Chronicle also invites readers to send in suggestions and additional information. Click here to go to the Chronicle's Special Report on the Campaign 2008.

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Veterans Affairs 'remains opposed' to making voter registration available to vets

Apr 10, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

In a letter this week to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake said the VA will not help injured veterans at VA facilities to register to vote before the 2008 election, as required by federal law. The letter was in response to a year-long request from Senators Feinstein and Kerry that the VA give veterans using VA facilities an opportunity to register to vote. In the letter Peake wrote,

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The Problem of Generalizing Nonprofits

Apr 8, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Earlier, the suggestion was made that "nonprofits" as a whole are increasingly being mentioned in the press in connection to their increased spending for political activity during the current campaign. A perfect example is laid out in this blog, with the headline, "Nonprofits are the New 527s." Understandably, it is easier to use "nonprofit" as opposed to 501(c)(4). 501(c)(4) organizations can be involved in some political activity as long as it is not their primary purpose. The blog makes it clear that the discussion is about 501(c)(4)'s, yet the headline remains vague.

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Mark Up Legislation in the Home not the Hearing Room

Apr 4, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Sunlight Foundation has created an initiative that allows citizens to participate in marking up the Transparency in Government Act of 2008, (TGA) on its site PublicMarkup.org. "Sunlight decided that public input and scrutiny would refine the bill and improve its chances of garnering lawmakers' support.

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