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23-642: The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew ) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues , public opinion , and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It also conducts public opinion polling , demographic research, random sample survey research, and panel based surveys , media content analysis , and other empirical social science research. The Pew Research Center states it does not take policy positions. It
46-533: A conservative Christian organization, recruited 35 churches to conduct sermons urging their congregation to vote for John McCain in the United States presidential election , as an act of civil disobedience , intending to make a test case over the power of the IRS to prohibit churches from endorsing candidates. In turn, others argue that allowing churches to support candidates would violate another provision of
69-706: Is a nonprofit , tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. For its studies focusing on demographics of religions in the world, the Pew Research Center has been jointly funded by the Templeton Foundation . The center's research includes the following topic areas: Nonpartisanism in the United States A ; nonpartisan organization , in American politics,
92-767: Is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts and a Charter Member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative. In 1990, the Times Mirror Company founded the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press as a research project, tasked with conducting polls on politics and policy. Andrew Kohut became its director in 1993, and The Pew Charitable Trusts became its primary sponsor in 1996, when it
115-833: Is a classification for organizations operated exclusively for religious , charitable , scientific , testing for public safety, literary , educational purposes, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Among the prohibitions, 501(c)(3) organizations may not become involved in political campaigns by "directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office." They may not contribute to campaign funds or make public statements in support of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However, such organizations may present public forums, publish voter education guides, and conduct certain other political activities that
138-429: Is a prerequisite to a person being able to vote at federal, state or local elections, as well as to serve on juries and perform other civil duties. Sometimes these drives are undertaken for partisan purposes, and target specific demographic groups considered to be likely to vote for one candidate or other; on the other hand, such drives are sometimes undertaken by non-partisan groups and targeted more generally. In 2004,
161-577: Is a non-profit organization organized United States Internal Revenue Code ( 501(c) ) that qualifies certain non-profit organizations for tax-exempt status because they refrain from engaging in certain political activities prohibited for them. The designation "nonpartisan" usually reflects a claim made by organizations about themselves, or by commentators, and not an official category per American law. Rather, certain types of nonprofit organizations are under varying requirements to refrain from election-related political activities, or may be taxed to
184-421: Is automatic, and is carried out by the government, so there is no need for organized efforts to register voters. In many many jurisdictions, the functions of electoral authorities includes endeavours to get as many people to register to vote as possible. In most jurisdictions, registration is a prerequisite to a person being able to vote at an election. A 2014 study indicated that voter registration drives increase
207-517: The election of the same year . Since 1832, only those registered to vote can do so, and the government invariably runs nonpartisan get out the vote campaigns for each election to expand the franchise as much as possible. In the United States , such drives are often undertaken by a political campaign , political party , or other outside groups (partisan and non-partisan), that seeks to register persons who are eligible to vote but are not registered. In all U.S. states except North Dakota , registration
230-580: The First Amendment, the Establishment Clause , which is interpreted to prohibit the granting of tax-exempt status to political activities undertaken by religious institutions. Voter registration drive A voter registration campaign or voter registration drive is an effort by a government authority, political party or other entity to register to vote persons otherwise entitled to vote. In some countries, voter registration
253-488: The IRS rules may have their tax-exempt status revoked or denied, and may face penalties. In addition, concealing or misreporting prohibited activities may, depending on the circumstances, be a crime on the part of the individuals or organizations involved. By contrast, certain other nonprofit organizations are not considered non-partisan: The Internal Revenue Service , or "IRS" (America's federal agency for tax regulation, collection, and enforcement), fields complaints from
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#1732765798293276-511: The IRS, or the party making accusations of partisanship, is itself accused of acting on the basis of a political agenda. The All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California was investigated over an anti-war sermon posing a hypothetical debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry moderated by Jesus Christ . The IRS concluded that the sermon was in violation of the tax code but did not explain its conclusion, and took no action against
299-512: The Internal Revenue Service classifies as "non-partisan". They may also conduct activities "intended to encourage people to participate" in elections, such as voter registration , training programs, issue briefings, and " get out the vote " drives, if done without bias that would favor one or more candidates over others, or that would oppose candidates. When making public political statements they are required to concentrate on
322-593: The Nu Mu Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity held a voter registration drive in DeKalb County, Georgia , from which Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox (Dem.) rejected all 63 voter registration applications on the basis that the fraternity did not follow correct procedures, including obtaining specific pre-clearance from the state to conduct their drive. Nu Mu Lambda filed Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation v. Cathy Cox ( Wesley v. Cox ) on
345-498: The basis that Georgia's long-standing policy and practice of rejecting mail-in voter registration applications that were submitted in bundles, by persons other than registrars, deputy registrars, or "authorized persons", violated the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by undermining voter registration drives. A senior U.S. District Judge upheld earlier federal court decisions in
368-419: The broader issues, and not make comparisons between candidates. Public forums and other activities are also subject to a number of rules, such as a requirement to invite all viable candidates. Public charities (but not private foundations) may conduct some lobbying activities to influence legislation, if the lobbying activity is not a "substantial part" of its overall activities. Organizations that violate
391-456: The case, which also found private entities have a right, under the federal law, to engage in organized voter registration activity in Georgia at times and locations of their choosing, without the presence or permission of state or local election officials. In 2019, Tennessee lawmakers contemplated passing legislation to make it more difficult to carry out voter registration drives by limiting
414-537: The church. The church, in turn, accused the IRS of meddling in politics and asked for an apology. Additionally, there are concerns that putting the IRS in the role of classifying certain speech as political or apolitical runs a risk of suppressing protected speech, which would violate the First Amendment constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech . In 2008 the Alliance Defense Fund ,
437-405: The extent they engage in electoral politics, so the word affirms a legal requirement. In this context, "nonpartisan" means that the organization, by US tax law, is prohibited from supporting or opposing political candidates, parties, and in some cases other votes like propositions, directly or indirectly, but does not mean that the organization cannot take positions on political issues. 501(c)(3)
460-535: The number of voters, however, changes to the socioeconomic composition of the effective voter base may be limited: while relatively poor areas had higher rates of registration, this was countered by a higher turnout among the newly registered voters in affluent areas. In the United Kingdom , voter registration was introduced for all constituencies as a result of the Reform Act 1832 , which took effect for
483-439: The offending organizations written advisory letters. It considered three cases serious enough to propose the revocation of the organization's tax-exempt status. The IRS summarized the violations as follows: Despite the relative infrequency of sanctions from the IRS, there have been a number of claims made publicly that nonpartisan organizations had engaged in prohibited partisan activities. Some of these include: Occasionally,
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#1732765798293506-452: The public that a nonprofit organization has participated in prohibited political activities. In 2006, the IRS stated that although most of the more than one million 501(c)(3) organizations were compliant, it had conducted 100 investigations in response to complaints from the 2004 election season, of which in 59 out of 82 closed cases it had found "some level" of prohibited activity. It characterized most as minor one-time violations, and issued
529-457: Was renamed the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. In 2004, the trust established the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. In 2013, Kohut stepped down as president and became founding director, and Alan Murray became the second president. In October 2014, Michael Dimock, a 14-year veteran of the Center at the time of his selection, was named president. The Pew Research Center
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