PreserveMarriageWashington.com
February, 2012
Dear Pastor: I write to encourage you and your church to support the referendum protecting traditional marriage in Washington. Under current IRS regulations churches may distribute and encourage their members to sign the referendum petition. Churches may even expend their resources to assist the referendum effort. Pastors may leverage their influence or their position in the church to support the referendum if they so choose. Church facilities may also be used to support the referendum. The law on this point is very clear: Under the Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), churches are only prohibited from expending more than an insubstantial part of their overall budget and activities on lobbying matters such as the promotion of the marriage referendum. This legal standard has been interpreted by the federal courts to mean that a church cannot expend more than 5 to 15 percent of its overall budget and activities on supporting or opposing legislation. Churches usually never come anywhere close to this threshold and no church has ever lost its tax exempt status for excessive lobbying. This is one area of the law where no pastor should fear the IRS. It is also permissible for churches to contribute financially to a 501(c)(4) organization that is involved in the referendum campaign. However, churches must designate any contributions given to a 501(c)(4) organization for support of the referendum and not for the support or opposition of any political candidate since churches are prohibited from supporting or opposing political candidates for office. And churches should know that any contributions are taken into consideration in determining whether the church has crossed the line of not more than an insubstantial part of its overall activities and budget spent on lobbying or legislative activities. But it is not enough to simply acknowledge that churches are legally allowed to support the marriage referendum. Every church in Washington should stand to support the referendum. Churches must lead the charge on this issue as they led the charge in the past on the great moral issues of history such as independence, slavery, womens suffrage, ending child labor, and civil rights. Churches and pastors have always been at the forefront of the great moral issues confronting our culture. They have never been afraid to stand for righteousness and to urge morality in culture. And today should be no different.
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Churches in Washington have a tremendous opportunity to lead the charge to protect marriage. Churches in other states have not been as fortunate. There is nothing legally preventing churches and pastors from standing together to support and protect marriage in Washington. This letter is intended to offer general principles and should not be construed as legal advice regarding your particular situation. Churches and pastors may obtain legal advice, free of charge, regarding their particular situation from the Alliance Defense Fund. If you have specific questions, please contact ADF at (800) TELL-ADF.
Sincerely,
IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: Any tax advice contained in this communication was not written for the purpose of and is not intended to be used for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending any transaction or matter addressed herein.
PreserveMarriageWashington.com
March 2011
The following legal overview and guidelines summarize the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code as they apply to churches and pastors.1 We encourage you to share them with your colleagues. As guidelines, they may not address every situation that you face and should not be construed as legal advice.2 Churches and pastors, however, may request legal advice free of charge regarding a particular situation by contacting the Alliance Defense Fund at 1-800-TELLADF or www.telladf.org. Additional resources regarding churches and politics can be found at www.speakupmovement.org/church.
While the following guidelines will help you and your church stay within the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) rules concerning political activities by churches and pastors, ADF believes that some IRS restrictions are unconstitutional. For instance, we believe that churches and pastors have the right to speak Biblical truth from the pulpit about candidates for office, even if that means opposing or supporting particular candidates from the pulpit. Churches and pastors have spoken the truth of Scripture from the pulpit in regard to voting for or against candidates for office from the beginning of our country. Unfortunately, churches and pastors have allowed themselves to be censored by the unconstitutional IRS guidelines prohibiting any speech that may be considered to endorse or oppose a candidate for office. ADF has launched a project to challenge this restriction as unconstitutional and to restore the voice of the church. If you are interested in participating in this exciting project or want more information, please contact ADF at once. We want to work with you to restore true freedom to Americas pulpits. Federal Tax-Exempt Status of Churches church: Almost all churches are exempt from federal income taxes. As a tax exempt organization, a (1) is exempt from paying corporate income taxes, and donations to the church are tax deductible on individuals federal tax returns;
Although churches are subject to the rules of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) as well as those of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), FECA generally does not impact churches. Because the IRS has concluded that section 501(c)(3) absolutely prohibits any political campaign activity, activities regulated under FECA are already prohibited by the IRC. Particularly, state laws may be more restrictive than these guidelines, and therefore, in applying them to specific situations regarding state candidates or state elections, an attorney should be consulted.
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may expend funds for religious, charitable, and educational purposes, as well as an insubstantial amount on lobbying to promote or oppose legislation.
Under section 501(c)(3), however, exempt organizations may not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Still, not all political activity which would influence an election falls under this prohibition. Permissible Political Activity and Impermissible Campaign Activity The type of political activity prohibited by the IRS is participating or intervening in a political campaignalso known as campaign activity. The Internal Revenue Code requires that churches refrain from supporting or opposing a candidates campaign. Campaign activity involves endorsements of candidates or expenditures of funds to expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate for political office. The IRS guidelines prohibit direct contributions to a candidate, as well as in-kind contributions, which include giving anything of value to a candidate (such as a church mailing list). Independent expenditures, which are expenditures expressly advocating the election or defeat of a political candidate when made without the knowledge of or consultation with any candidate, are also prohibited. Speech about public issues may incidentally influence elections, but the government is far more limited in its ability to restrict discussion about issues. Churches may speak out about social and moral issues, the actions of government officials in office, and the positions of candidates on issues. As long as a church does not endorse or oppose a specific candidate for public office, it has broad freedom to praise or criticize officials and candidates. Pastors Individual Rights Pastors and priests, acting as individuals and not as official church representatives, have the same rights as all other American citizens to involve themselves in political activity. Therefore, they have much greater latitude in this area than do churches. They may even endorse or oppose candidates so long as the endorsement is not on behalf of the church and is not made in a way that gives the appearance that the endorsement is made on behalf of the church. Pastors are understandably concerned about the legal effects of political activity on themselves and their churches, but they should be aware that they are not required to be passive or remain silent. If they follow these basic guidelines, pastors may lift their voices publicly without fear.
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Guidelines for Political Activities by Churches and Pastors Political Activity 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Discuss the positions of candidates on issues Endorse or oppose candidates Financial contributions to candidates In-kind contributions to candidates Independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates Contributions to political action committees (PACs) Payment of expenses for attendance at a caucus or state/national political party convention Appearance of candidate at church meeting or service Non-partisan voter registration activities Non-partisan voter identification activities Church Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Pastor3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
11. Non-partisan get-out-the-vote activities 12. Non-partisan voter education 13. Lobbying for or against legislation 14. Expenditures related to state referendums4 15. Distribution of: a. Candidate surveys or voter guides b. Voting records of incumbents c. Candidate campaign literature 16. Distribution by others of political materials in church parking lots 17. Rental of church membership lists at regular rates 18. Rental of church facilities at regular rates 19. Church publications: a. Political ads at regular rates b. News stories about candidates or campaigns c. Editorials endorsing or opposing candidates
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Acting as an individual rather than an official church representative. Lobbying activities may expose churches in some states to election law register and reporting requirements as a political committee. Many of these statutes are unconstitutional because they expose churches to intrusive regulations for a very small amount of lobbying. If you find your church exposed to such state election law requirements, contact ADF immediately so an attorney can review your situation.
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Explanations of Guidelines
Item 1. Discuss the positions of candidates on public issues. Pastors and churches are free to discuss the positions of candidates on issuesincluding criticizing or praising them for their positions. This is called issue advocacy. Item 2. Endorse or oppose candidates. Endorsing or opposing a candidate includes any statement which uses explicit words to expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, such as elect, support, defeat, or oppose. This is called express advocacy. Distributing campaign literature from a candidate is also prohibited express advocacy. A pastor in his individual capacity, however, may endorse or oppose a candidate. The pastor may state his affiliation with his church, as long as it is indicated that this is for identification purposes only and that his endorsement is from him personally, not his church. The IRS has taken the unequivocal position that a pastor may not endorse or oppose a candidate from the pulpit. Nevertheless, ADF believes that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects these statements from the pulpit, and ADF will vigorously defend the rights of pastors who choose to do so. Churches and pastors may support or oppose the appointment of judicial, cabinet, or other non-elected officials so long as it does not involve a partisan selection process. This is considered lobbying, not active electioneering. Item 6. Contributions to political action committees (PACs). A PAC is any organization of two or more people whose major purpose is to engage in active electioneering by contributing to candidates or by expressly advocating the election or defeat of candidates for political office. Contributions to PACs from church funds are forbidden, and churches may not organize PACs. Item 8. Appearance of a candidate at a church meeting or service. A candidate may appear at a church service. The appearance of a candidate before a church service, however, is limited as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) All legally qualified candidates should be invited; The questions should be prepared and presented by an independent non-partisan panel; The topics discussed should cover a broad range of issues of interest to the public; Each candidate should have an equal opportunity to present his or her views on the issues discussed; and The moderator should not comment on the questions or otherwise make comments that imply approval or disapproval of the candidates.
Candidates may be introduced at a church service or may preach or read scripture without any restrictions. In addition, public officials who are also candidates, may be invited to speak to a church as a public official, without complying with the above requirements, if no reference is made to the public officials candidacy, if the public official speaks only in his or her capacity as a public official, and if there is no campaign activity in connection with the public officials appearance. A Items 9, 10 & 11. Non-partisan voter registration, voter identification, and get-out-the-vote activities. church may participate in non-partisan voter registration, voter identification, and get out the vote activities. To be nonpartisan, these activities may not be directed at the supporters of any particular candidate or political party. A church may, however, direct these activities at certain groups using non-partisan criteria, such as church membership, geographic location or position on certain issues. Furthermore, such activities will not be viewed as non-partisan if they are accompanied by literature praising or criticizing particular candidates or political parties for their positions on issues. Item 12. Non-partisan voter education. Churches may participate in non-partisan voter education. Here, voter education involves discussion of the electoral process, such as how to run for public office or delegate, how to register, and where to vote. All these activities are permissible as long as they are not directed at supporters of a particular candidate or political party. Item 13. Lobbying for or against legislation. Churches may spend an insubstantial amount of their funds yearly on lobbying. An insubstantial amount is generally considered 5 to 15 percent of a churchs funds. Lobbying is of two types: (1) direct lobbying, which involves direct communications with governmental officials regarding legislative or executive action, and (2) grass roots lobbying, where the church communicates with its members or the general public, urging them to contact governmental officials in support of or in opposition to legislative or executive action. As a result, a church may discuss legislative issues, support or oppose legislation, encourage its members or the general public to support or oppose legislation, and support other organizations with their lobbying efforts. Furthermore, churches may lobby candidates about issues and distribute educational material to candidates or at political events, as long as this is being done to get out the churchs message and not to assist any candidate. Item 14. Expenditures related to state referendums. Churches may make expenditures in connection with state referendums, including making a financial or in-kind contribution to a referendum effort. Such expenditures are considered direct lobbying. In addition, state election laws should be consulted for any requirements imposed on state referendum activities.
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Some state election laws require organizations that lobby on initiatives and referendums to register as a political committee and be subject to reporting and disclosure requirements. Many of these state election law requirements are unconstitutional as applied to churches because they subject churches to intrusive disclosure and reporting requirements based on a very small amount of lobbying activity. ADF has successfully challenged state election law register and reporting requirements as applied to churches that lobby on initiatives or referenda. If you find your church confronted with a state election law register and reporting requirement, contact ADF immediately so an attorney can review your situation. Item 15. Distribution of: (a). Candidate surveys or voter guides. Churches may publish the results of surveys of candidates on public issues (often called voter guides). Voter guides should not include an endorsement of a candidate or otherwise expressly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate. Further, voter guides should not advocate voting for or against candidates who support or oppose particular issues, i.e., single issue voting. Churches also may distribute voter guides prepared by other organizations that meet these guidelines. As a result, church voter guides should conform to the following guidelines: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Questionnaires should be sent to all candidates; The questions should cover a wide variety of issues; The questions should not indicate a bias toward the churchs preferred answer; The candidates responses should not be compared to the churchs preferred position; The responses should be published in the candidates own words or in a neutral, unbiased, and complete summary of the candidates position; and (6) The survey should not be published under the direction or control, direct or indirect, of any candidate.
(b). Voting records of incumbents. Churches may also publish the voting records of incumbent public officeholders. In the case of publication of voting records, the church has more leeway than in publishing candidate surveys, as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4) Incumbents positions should not be compared to the positions of other candidates or the churchs position; The voting record should be distributed on a regular basis, not just at election time; The voting record should be broadly distributed to the general public, not targeted to certain voting blocks; A variety of issues of interest to the general public should be presented.
Item 16. Distribution by others of political materials in church parking lots. Under some state constitutions, if a church parking lot is open for public use, people have a free speech right to distribute literature there. Even if there is no such right, a church is not responsible for political literature distributed by others in their parking lot without their permission or consent, and a church has no obligation to bar people from distributing political literature there. In the same way, a church may choose to restrict its parking lot to only attendees who park there for church activities; the church need not allow literature distribution on its premises. Item 17. Rental of church membership lists at regular rates. Churches may give candidates or political action committees access to church membership lists on the same basis that other non-church groups are allowed to have them. If other non-church groups are required to pay some cost for using the list(s), the candidate or PAC should be charged the same amount. Item 18. Rental of church facilities at regular rates. Churches may allow candidates or political action committees to use church facilities for meetings or campaign appearances on the same basis as other non-church groups. If other nonchurch groups are required to pay some rent for using the church property, the candidate or PAC should be charged the same amount. Item 19. Church publications. (a). Political ads at regular rates. Church publications, such as church bulletins and newsletters, may include an advertisement for a candidate or political action committee, as long as the candidate or PAC purchases the ad at regular rates. If discounts are given to regular advertisers under certain circumstances, the same discounts may be extended to a political advertiser. A political ad may not otherwise be sold to a candidate at less than the regular rate, since this would constitute a financial contribution to the candidate. The political ad must be identified as paid political advertising, and the church must include a disclaimer stating it does not endorse the candidate. Advertising must also be solicited from all candidates on an equal basis. (b). News stories about candidates or campaigns. Church publications may include news stories on candidates and political campaigns. The publication of voting records and candidate surveys are subject to the limitations delineated in Items 15 (a) & (b). (c). Editorials endorsing or opposing candidates. Church publications, however, may not publish an editorial that endorses or opposes a candidate for office.
IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: Any tax advice contained in this communication was not written for the purpose of and is not intended to be used for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending any transaction or matter addressed herein.
PreserveMarriageWashington.com
Reject redefining marriage - Reject R-74. equality. Reject redefining marriage Reject R-74.
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Important Supplies
1. Large, visible signs that say, Register to Vote Today 2. Pens (more than you think you will need) 3. Clipboards are helpful to allow more people to write at one time than the table will accommodate 4. Box for collecting completed forms 5. Also have: Absentee Ballot instructions, magic markers, scotch and masking tape, large table and scissors.
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instructions You must be a United States citizen to register to vote. how to register to vote or update a registration Please print all information clearly using black or blue pen. Mail or deliver this form to your County Elections Office. Addresses are on the next page. for more information online www.vote.wa.gov call visit 1-800-448-4881 your County Elections Office
residential address (in Washington) city mailing address (if different than residential address) city email address* I am in the Armed Forces (includes National Guard and Reserves) I am a U.S. citizen living outside the U.S. Washington drivers license / state ID # state / zip zip
This registration will be in effect for the next election if postmarked or delivered no later than the Monday four weeks before Election Day. If you miss this deadline, please contact your County Elections Office. You will receive your ballot by mail. Contact your County Elections Office for in-person voting options. If you knowingly provide false information on this voter registration form or knowingly make a false declaration about your qualifications for voter registration you will have committed a class C felony that is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Your name, address, gender and date of birth are public information.
*optional information
if you do not have a Washington drivers license or state ID card, provide the last four digits of your Social Security number xx x-x xoath I declare that the facts on this voter registration form are true. I am a citizen of the United States, I am not presently denied the right to vote as a result of being convicted of a felony, I will have lived in Washington at this address for 30 days immediately before the next election at which I vote, and I will be at least 18 years old when I vote.
sign here
date here
former registration if you are already registered and are changing your name or address, fill out this section (this information will be used to update your registration) former last name
09/2009
turning in the form Deliver or mail the completed form to your County Elections Office. Addresses are at right. If you dont know what county you live in, please contact us at 1-800-448-4881. deadline This registration will be in effect for the next election if postmarked or delivered no later than the Monday four weeks before Election Day. for more information online www.vote.wa.gov call visit 1-800-448-4881 your County Elections Office
Adams County 210 W Broadway, Ste 200 Ritzville, WA 99169 (509) 659-3249 Asotin County PO Box 129 Asotin, WA 99402 (509) 243-2084 Benton County PO Box 470 Prosser, WA 99350 (509) 736-3085 Chelan County PO Box 4760 Wenatchee, WA 98807 (509) 667-6808 Clallam County 223 E 4th St, Ste 1 Port Angeles, WA 98362 (360) 417-2221 Clark County PO Box 8815 Vancouver, WA 98666-8815 (360) 397-2345 Columbia County 341 E Main St, Ste 3 Dayton, WA 99328 (509) 382- 4541 Cowlitz County 207 4th Ave N, Rm 107 Kelso, WA 98626-4124 (360) 577-3005 Douglas County PO Box 456 Waterville, WA 98858 (509) 745-8527 Ferry County 350 E Delaware Ave, Ste 2 Republic, WA 99166 (509) 775-5200 Franklin County PO Box 1451 Pasco, WA 99301 (509) 545-3538 Garfield County PO Box 278 Pomeroy, WA 99347-0278 (509) 843-1411 Grant County PO Box 37 Ephrata, WA 98823 (509) 754-2011 ext 343 Grays Harbor County 100 W Broadway, Ste 2 Montesano, WA 98563 (360) 249-4232 ext 3
Island County PO Box 1410 Coupeville, WA 98239 (360) 679-7366 Jefferson County PO Box 563 PortTownsend, WA 98368-0563 (360) 385-9119 King County 919 SW Grady Way Renton, WA 98057 (206) 296-8683 Kitsap County 614 Division St, MS 31 Port Orchard, WA 98366 (360) 337-7128 Kittitas County 205 W 5th Ave, Ste 105 Ellensburg, WA 98926-2891 (509) 962-7503 Klickitat County 205 S Columbus, MS 2 Goldendale, WA 98620 (509) 773- 4001 Lewis County PO Box 29 Chehalis, WA 98532-0029 (360) 740-1278 Lincoln County PO Box 28 Davenport, WA 99122-0028 (509) 725-4971 Mason County PO Box 400 Shelton, WA 98584 (360) 427-9670 ext 470 Okanogan County PO Box 1010 Okanogan, WA 98840-1010 (509) 422-7240 Pacific County PO Box 97 South Bend, WA 98586-0097 (360) 875-9317 Pend Oreille County PO Box 5015 Newport, WA 99156 (509) 447-6472 Pierce County 2501 S 35th St, Ste C Tacoma, WA 98409 (253) 798-VOTE
San Juan County PO Box 638 Friday Harbor, WA 98250-0638 (360) 378-3357 Skagit County PO Box 1306 Mount Vernon, WA 98273-1306 (360) 336-9305 Skamania County PO Box 790 Stevenson, WA 98648-0790 (509) 427-3730 Snohomish County 3000 Rockefeller Ave MS 505 Everett, WA 98201-4060 (425) 388-3444 Spokane County 1033 W Gardner Ave Spokane, WA 99260 (509) 477-2320 Stevens County 215 S Oak St, Rm 106 Colville, WA 99114-2836 (509) 684-7514 Thurston County 2000 Lakeridge Dr SW Olympia, WA 98502-6090 (360) 786-5408 Wahkiakum County PO Box 543 Cathlamet, WA 98612 (360) 795-3219 Walla Walla County PO Box 2176 Walla Walla, WA 99362-0356 (509) 524-2530 Whatcom County PO Box 398 Bellingham, WA 98227-0398 (360) 676-6742 Whitman County PO Box 191 Colfax, WA 99111 (509) 397-6353 Yakima County PO Box 12570 Yakima, WA 98909-2570 (509) 574-1340
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