Easy Steps Charities and Foundations Can Take to Safeguard Election Day

Protecting and ensuring the validity of an election is the hallmark of a free society. Thus, all of us — especially nonprofits and foundations — must get involved in a year when the proper administration of elections has been threatened.

Sadly, too many nonprofits think they are banned from participating in elections because they misunderstand federal law. Partisan activity is indeed forbidden, but there’s plenty more to do in an election, particularly one taking place in an era of social distancing.

Traditional opportunities such as educating voters, running get out the vote campaigns, and publishing voter guides on specific legislative issues continue to be important. But additional opportunities are available to charities resulting from the unique events that have transpired in 2020.

In particular, philanthropies can help deal with the challenges local election officials face in garnering sufficient resources to handle the expenses associated with running the general election.

One challenge, of course, is that Covid-19 is expected to cause a significant increase in mail-in voting. Other additional costs will come from the need to provide workers at polling sites with proper protective gear and to regularly sanitize every part of the site where voters cast their ballots.

Nonprofits and foundations can help with many of those issues. Before we offer ideas about what they can do, it is worth a reminder about what they are legally banned from doing. Aside from the rules prohibiting partisan activity, the actions a charity takes must be related to its mission. Straying from the rules could cause a charity to face penalties or even lose its tax-exempt status.

Here are some ideas that shouldn’t cause controversy — but could make a huge difference in keeping our democracy safe.

Enlist volunteers to serve as poll workers.

Nearly 60 percent of poll workers are 61 or older, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center. That’s the very age group that is most at risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19. Even in the 2018 election, it was hard to find enough poll workers, two-thirds of election officials told Pew.

That means many polling sites could be understaffed, and that will create longer lines, potentially discouraging someone from voting in person who was unable to vote by mail.

Many charities either have a group of volunteers in place that could serve as poll workers or are capable of mobilizing individuals who are willing to donate their time to a civic cause. Charities could run campaigns to persuade individuals to contact local election officials about volunteering at polling sites or helping with the counting process. Foundations could also finance the training needed to serve as a poll workers and either make grants to nonprofits to do the work or to local government offices.

Help election officials with mailing concerns.

The number of mail-in and absentee ballots is expected to be unprecedented in the November general election. Despite contracts in place with the U,S. Postal Service, the sheer volume of postage needed for all mail-in ballots that will be cast may make paying for postage costly. Only 12 states provide postage-paid absentee ballots. What’s more, some experts are concerned that the supply chain supporting the production of the envelopes used for mail-in and absentee ballots may not support the anticipated demand to produce the envelopes that will be needed across the United States.

Charities and foundations do a lot of their own mailings — and therefore could take advantage of their buying power to help local election officials get a good deal on the postage-prepaid ballots and the envelopes needed for them. They could also make sure their suppliers know election officials should be first in line during election season if they want to keep a nonprofit’s business.

Additionally, voters may be unaware of the deadlines for applying to vote by mail and returning the ballots. They might also not understand what it takes to ensure those ballots are completed in a way that ensures they will be counted. Charities could distribute in print and online explainer guides to walk voters through every step, and foundations could finance that work.

Make grants to pay for ballot drop boxes and new election equipment.

A possible solution to concerns over timely delivery of mail-in ballots is the use of drop boxes. Drop boxes provide a location where voters can drop off mail-in ballots in sealed and signed envelopes. The drop boxes may be supervised or unsupervised with security features such as cameras. No evidence has been provided that drop boxes benefit one party over the other, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Another possibility is to provide funding to purchase or lease new voting machine equipment.

Although there is no evidence currently available that the voting machines themselves are subject to being hacked, election officials acknowledge that the age of these machines is a potential vulnerability. Officials in 33 states have said their voting machines should have been replaced this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Many officials have said, however, that they lack the funds necessary to replace the voting machines, the Brennan Center has found. The election is fast approaching, so making sure new voting machines are purchased and programmed for use by November 3 could be too difficult at this point. However, foundations might still ask local election officials if they need the money and if it would help to get a check right away.

Donate money to enable voters to get to the polls safely at no cost.

The health crisis has made it untenable to transport large numbers of voters to and from the polls in shuttle buses. Instead, foundations could donate ridesharing services to voters to provide free transportation to and from the polls. This type of service may be particularly beneficial to those with physical disabilities and people who can’t afford to own a car. Lyft has announced that it will expand its efforts to provide free and reduced-price rides to polls in 2020 through partner organizations that distribute the rides to people in greatest need of transportation. Foundations and nonprofits could work with ridesharing services or other private transportation services to offer voters rides to and from the polls.

Pay for cleaning supplies and staffing at polling places.

The spread of Covid-19 has caused many organizations to incur expenses necessary to protect their employees from the virus, including the purchase of cleaning supplies, masks, plastic barriers, air purifiers, and other equipment and supplies, plus the additional staffing needed to properly sanitize polling sites. This will be an important need at polling sites come Election Day, and charities and foundations could easily pay for these.

Foundations and other nonprofits that want to make grants to local election offices to help cover their costs for the 2020 elections should have a written grant agreement in place to ensure the IRS doesn’t raise questions later. But that is an easy step and shouldn’t get in the way of providing a crucial service to the public.

Covid-19 has created many challenges and barriers to the 2020 voting process, but it also opens up new opportunities for nonprofits and foundations to do their part to support local election efforts. Every nonprofit mission is affected by local, state, and federal decision making, so there’s a lot at stake for every cause. Let’s be sure we have a safe and fair vote.