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The Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Designated Professor in Business Law and a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz explains the nuances of social welfare organizations and federal regulations related to them.

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In the News

IRS scandal could lead to better defining of nonprofit campaign rules

Professor Donald Tobin was quoted in a Lancaster Eagle Gazette article about the need to clear up certain rules in the Internal Revenue Service in order to more accurately determine if groups can be classified as social welfare groups. He said that while most groups are easily classified into the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt category, changes throughout the years have created some more difficult decisions for the IRS. He said when groups want to engage in political activity near an election, things get tricky.

In the article, Tobin said experts have been calling for improvements to the 501(c)(4) rules for a decade because there has been abuse by entities filing for the exemption. In addition, he said the IRS has shown it has been reluctant to enforce the rules and incompetent when it tried to do so.

“We need to figure out a way to fix it so people’s faith in non-partisan enforcement in our tax laws is restored while there’s a means of assuring that those provisions are not being abused,” he said.

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Info & Analysis

Supreme Court: NVRA Pre-empts Arizona's Proof of Citizenship Law

In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the NVRA preempts an Arizona law requiring documentation of citizenship to accompany voter registration forms. The case is Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

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Election Law @ Moritz | The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law | electionlaw@osu.edu

Please note: Election Law @ Moritz is nonpartisan and does not endorse, support, or oppose any candidate, campaign, or party. Opinions expressed by individuals associated with Election Law @ Moritz, either on this web site or in connection with conferences or other activities undertaken by the program, represent solely the views of the individuals offering the opinions and not the program itself. Election Law @ Moritz institutionally does not represent any clients or participate in any litigation. Individuals affiliated with the program may in their own personal capacity participate in campaign or election activity, or engage in pro bono representation of clients other than partisan candidates or organizations.

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