Nonprofit Voter Registration is Nonpartisan, Not Apolitical

Today, September 15, 2026, marks the 14th annual National Voter Registration Day, a national effort to help people register to vote or update their voter registration. Across the country, nonprofit and community organizations will help people navigate the registration process and make sure they can participate in upcoming elections.

For public charities, voter registration can be part of something bigger: building the power of the communities they serve. Voting is one way people exercise political power, but it is far from alone. Organizing, advocacy, protest, litigation, and other forms of collective action all shape what happens in our communities. Elections are one place where political power is contested and where decisions affecting people’s lives are made.

So a useful question is not simply, “Why should people vote?” But rather: Who gets to participate in decisions about how power is exercised?

The history of voting in the United States shows that access to the ballot has never been evenly distributed. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibited racial discrimination in voting, but discriminatory laws and practices continued to prevent Black Americans from registering and voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided critical federal protections against those practices, including by prohibiting literacy tests. And the fight over access to the ballot did not end in 1965.

Today, registration deadlines, documentation requirements, voter-roll maintenance, language access, disability access, and other rules can affect whether eligible voters are able to participate. Because election administration is largely conducted at the state and local level, those rules also vary widely across the country.

Registration is one threshold question. Where registration is required, eligible voters who are not registered cannot cast a ballot. Helping people navigate that process does not tell them what political choices to make. It helps ensure they have the opportunity to make those choices for themselves.

Nonpartisan does not mean apolitical 

Election season is not a time for nonprofits to disappear. It is a time when people are paying attention, asking questions, and thinking about how government decisions affect their lives. That creates opportunities for nonprofits to do what they do year-round: educate, organize, build relationships, and help communities understand and act on the issues that matter to them.

Nonprofits have a role to play in those conversations. They can bring community knowledge and experience into public debates. They can explain policies and their real-world consequences. They can counter misinformation with reliable information. And they can help people understand the systems they are navigating and the choices available to them. And none of that requires a nonprofit to support or oppose a candidate.

For 501(c)(3) organizations, the Internal Revenue Code draws a line between nonpartisan civic engagement and political campaign intervention. A 501(c)(3) organization cannot participate or intervene in a political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate for public office. But that does not mean the organization has to be silent about issues, policy, or the experiences of the communities it serves. The IRS recognizes that nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities can be permissible activities for 501(c)(3) organizations.

Nonpartisan does not mean neutral. It does not mean disengaged. And it does not mean watered down. It does mean staying on the correct side of the legal line between issue advocacy and intervention in candidate elections.

For voter registration activities, it means paying attention to the way an organization chooses its audience, communicates about the election, presents information, and conducts its registration activities. The IRS looks at the facts and circumstances in determining whether an activity is genuinely nonpartisan. Organizations should take care that their materials and communications do not favor or oppose candidates or political parties and that registration assistance is not conditioned on political preference. Compliance should support the work, not keep nonprofits from doing it.

The rules do not stop at the federal level 

Federal tax law is only part of the picture. Voter registration is also governed by state and local election laws, and those rules vary. Some states require organizations or individuals conducting registration drives to register with election officials, complete training, or follow particular procedures for handling and submitting registration forms. States also have different registration deadlines and requirements for submitting completed forms. Some states require organizations or individuals conducting registration drives to register with election officials, complete training, or follow particular procedures for handling and submitting registration forms.

A registration drive must comply with both federal tax law and state election law. Before launching a registration effort, nonprofits should understand the rules that apply where they are doing the work and build enough time into their plans to meet applicable deadlines.

Before launching a voter registration initiative, organizations should:

• Know what the tax code requires. Make sure staff and volunteers review the rules governing 501(c)(3) voter registration and campaign intervention and that they understand what it means to remain nonpartisan.

• Know your state’s rules. Check registration drive requirements, training requirements, deadlines, and procedures for handling registration forms.

• Train the people doing the work. Staff and volunteers should know both what they can do and where the lines are. Schedule an in-person or virtual workshop, or seek out on-demand training options for your team.

• Review your materials. Look at registration scripts, handouts, websites, social media, and other communications to make sure they are genuinely nonpartisan and do not indicate support or opposition to any candidates for public office.

• Be consistent. Do not condition registration assistance on someone’s political views or preferences. Offer your registration services to all who are eligible to register to vote.

• Document your process. Keep records of policies, training, materials, and procedures, so your organization can show how it approached its registration activities and maintained a nonpartisan stance.

• Adopt an election season advocacy policy. Our Sample 501(c)(3) Organizational Policy for Election Season can help organizations establish clear internal guidelines for election-related work.

Nonprofits are not outside the political process. They are part of the civic infrastructure through which people build knowledge, relationships, and power. Election seasons do not change that. If anything, they create more opportunities to put that infrastructure to work.

Public charities do not have to choose between following the rules and showing up for their communities. They can educate. They can organize. They can help people register to vote. They can talk about the issues at the heart of their missions. And they can do all of that while staying within the legal boundaries that apply to their work.

Nonpartisan voter registration is not about telling people how to use their political power. It is about making sure eligible voters have the opportunity to use it.