A voter registration organization benefiting from 501c3 status claiming to be “nonpartisan” appears to be using demographic information to filter out Republicans, and ultimately reduce the number of Republicans seeing their ads for voter registration efforts.
A left wing Super PAC by the name of Mind The Gap works with the organization, along with the Center for Voter Information, openly stating that “on a pre-tax basis, there are 2-5 times more cost effective and netting additional Democratic votes.”
The Daily Caller reports:
The Voter Participation Center (VPC), which describes itself as a “non-partisan organization,” posted advertisements on Facebook encouraging voter turnout in swing states, but instructed Facebook to exclude showing advertisements to people interested in things associated with Republican voters, such as NASCAR, military novelist Tom Clancy, the PGA Tour and Duck Dynasty, according to the ad data. The VPC has ties to the Democratic Party, with founder Paige Gardner working on the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign, and 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign manager John Podesta is a founding board member, according to Influence Watch.
The VPC has engaged in dubiously legal behavior in the past, with the organization working with the Center for Voter Information to pressure people into voting, sending out mail that said they were “sending the mailing to you and other voters across Ohio with your first name to share who does and does not vote in an effort to promote election participation.” The VPC also allegedly illegally retained sensitive voter information such as date of birth and also sent out pre-filled ballots to voters with inaccurate information in the 2020 election.
Capital Research Center CEO Scott Walter said, “[The] Voter Participation Center has laughed at the line forbidding partisan voter registration for years. Their partisan ad targeting fits with their using Democratic microtargeting firms. Will they ever be held accountable? In an age of microtargeting and zero accountability, charities should not be allowed to register voters or get out the vote, period.”
The VPC also made their ads target more liberal-associated interests, such as pop singer Taylor Swift, comedian Jordan Peele, “African-American Literature” and hot yoga, according to the ad data. Taylor Swift endorsed Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen for Senate and former Rep. Jim Cooper in the 2018 midterm elections, according to NBC.
It should be noted that as a 501c3, VPC received special tax breaks reserved for houses of worship and charitable organizations. In order to receive this tax exemption, organizations can't be political operatives, or work to influence elections. Many argue that ntentionally excluding ad targets based on interests exclusively associated with one political party is a blatant violation of this rule, but whether the group will be reprimanded or formally investigated remains to be seen.
Many conservatives criticized Obama for what they perceived as weaponizing the Internal Revenue Service against political dissidents. From 2010 to his 2012 reelection, Tea Party groups were denied and postponed tax-exempt status, and sent to special divisions within the IRS for “extended review.” When an IRS employee questioned the discrepancy in tax-exempt approvals for Tea Party groups vs progressive groups, she never got an upfront answer.
