Nonprofits & Voting

PERMITTED Voter Engagement for 501(c)(3) Organizations

• Conducting a voter registration drive at your nonprofit or in your community.
• Encouraging people to register to vote in your communications, on your website or at events.
• Providing information on when and where to vote – such as finding their poll location, getting an absentee ballot or contacting their local election office for help.
• Reminding people of registration or election deadlines and dates.
• Sponsoring a candidate forum with other community partners for all the candidates.
• Encouraging your community to attend your forum or another candidate forum sponsored by a trusted partner.
• Submitting questions to all the candidates in a race on issues of interest to your nonprofit.
• Publishing the candidate’s full answers on your website or in a nonpartisan voter guide.
• Displaying or providing an official sample ballot that highlights state elections common to all voters in your state.
• Distributing a nonpartisan voter guide from trusted partner about what is on the ballot.
• Continuing your regular advocacy or lobbying activities during the election period, as long it is related to pending legislation on issues you have a history of working on and not timed or structured to influence how people vote.
• Educating the public on your position within your normal lobbying limits.
• Engaging your community leaders and residents in a conversation about the issues at the county and state level.
• Sending reminders to your staff, clients and constituents about voting in the next election and why voting is important. Nonprofits may conduct any type of get out the vote activity to encourage people to vote as long as it is about participating as a voter and not suggesting who to vote for.

PROHIBITED Voter Engagement for 501(c)(3) Organizations

• Endorsing a candidate.
• Publishing or communicating anything that explicitly or implicitly favors or opposes a candidate.
• Supporting or opposing a political party.
• Making a campaign contribution or expenditure for or against a candidate.
• Rating or ranking candidates on who is most favorable to your issue(s).
• Letting candidates use your facilities or resources, unless they are made equally available to all candidates at their fair market value – such as a room commonly used for public events.
• Asking candidates to sign pledges.

Additional Resources

• Practical Guidance – Nonprofit Voter Assistance (Bolder Advocacy and the Democracy Capacity Project)
  Outline of state and local regulations that apply to your existing or proposed voter engagement and Get Out the Vote (GOTV) work in Illinois.
• Illinois Voter Guide (LWVIL) ; Ballotpedia : Non-partisan online voter guides.
• Inclusive Strategies for Nonprofit Voting
  Tips to build a more equitable electorate is provided by Independent Sector, the national organization for the nonprofit and philanthropic sector.
• NonprofitVote.org
  Leading source of nonpartisan resources to help nonprofits integrate voter engagement into their ongoing activities and services.
• Illinois State Board of Elections
  The State Board of Elections is an independent state agency charged with the responsibility of having general supervision over the administration of election laws of the State of Illinois. Elections are administered locally by the State’s 108 election authorities.
• Illinois Sunshine
  Nonpartisan research and advocacy resource that provides funding and contributions in Illinois’ political system.