National PTA
Election Activities 101
2014 Election Activities Guide
Goals of the Presentation
At the end of this presentation,
you will understand:
• How to remain nonpartisan
• What your PTA can do
• How you can help with voter registration
• Permissible Election Day activities
PTA AND VOTER ENGAGEMENT:
THE BASICS
Why should PTA’s pursue voter engagement?
To advance the mission and values of PTA
To increase voter turnout numbers
To build clout for the association
To get PTA priorities in front of legislators and local
leaders
Why are nonprofits suitable for voter
engagement efforts?
Have unique access to
underrepresented populations
Have trust and respect in the
community
Have proven effectiveness at engaging
members and community
How to be nonpartisan: One IRS Rule
Nonprofits (any 501c3
organization) may not donate
money or resources to any
candidate, nor may they endorse
any candidate for office.
PREPARING FOR YOUR VOTER
ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS:
USING THE TIMELINE
Voter Registration and Engagement
Timeline
This can be found at
www.pta.org/electionguides
Leadership and Buy-In
Choose a staff or volunteer lead for
your efforts
Get approval from your Executive
Director or unit leader
Make sure to get support from other
members of your unit
Point of Contact
Determine where your membership and
community are going to come into contact
with you to learn about your voter
engagement efforts.
• Classes and trainings
• Meetings
• Community Events
• In the lobby or office of the PTA
Become Familiar with Voting Laws in Your State
Know important
dates and rules,
such as:
What is the law for
ex-criminal
offenders?
What are early
voting procedures?
What are the voter
ID laws?
Visit Nonprofit
VOTE’s website
to use their
Voting in Your
State tool to find
the answers to all
those questions!
http://www.nonprofitvote.
org/voting-in-your-state/
VOTER REGISTRATION
Promoting vs. Conducting Voter Registration
You PTA needs to choose whether it wants to promote
voter registration or actually conduct it.
Promoting: putting information on your website,
sharing state links. You can share the Nonprofit VOTE
voter registration tool, which can be found at
http://www.nonprofitvote.org/new-voterregistration-tool/.
Conducting voter registration requires your PTA to
determine where and how it would like to do so.
Voter Registration: Tips
Do the bulk of your voter registration activities in the 23 months before the registration deadline
Combine the registration drive with other PTA events
Updating a voter’s address is just as important, to
ensure they can go to the most convenient poll location
Plan an event for National Voter Registration Day on
September 23
Planning a Voter Registration Drive
Have a plan and ensure all
volunteers know about it
Make sure you have the appropriate
amount of staff and training
Know your association’s registration goals
Have a system in place for turning in completed registration
forms
CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT
Candidate Forums
Hosting a candidate forum is a great way to find out
where each candidate stands on the issues
important to your members.
You must invite all candidates, although if one does
not agree to come you may still hold the forum. Just
be explicit that all candidates were invited.
Ask questions on a variety of issues.
Candidate Appearances
You may invite candidates to appear at your events.
However, the rules are similar to the forum.
All candidates must be invited, unless the person running
for office is currently holding the office they are coming to
speak about. For example, a member of Congress running
for reelection may be invited solo as long as they are there
to speak about their positions or accomplishments in
office.
It is important that candidates know their appearance is
not a campaign event.
Candidate Questionnaires
Your PTA may put together a candidate questionnaire to
educate your members on the positions of the candidates.
As with the forum and appearances, all candidates must
be given the opportunity to answer your questions. If a
candidate declines, you may still distribute the
questionnaire, but you must indicate that all were asked.
Ask questions on a variety of topics in order to give your
members an unbiased look at their candidates.
Resources
Please visit
pta.org/electionguides for
more information on candidate
forums, appearances, and
questionnaires.
BALLOT MEASURES
Ballot Measures
Ballot measures are considered lobbying,
not electioneering.
What does this mean? Unlike taking a
partisan position on a candidate, a ballot
measure is a policy proposal. PTAs already
take positions on policies proposed by
legislative leaders, so PTAs can take
positions on ballot measures.
Ballot Measures
Your PTA does not have to take a
position, however. You can simply
educate your members on what the
ballot measure does.
If your PTA chooses to take a position
and actively lobbies for or against it,
just remember to keep track of your
activities for IRS reporting purposes.
ELECTION DAY ACTIVITIES
Get Out The Vote! GOTV
One important, and nonpartisan, activity that
your PTA can do on election day is help get out
the vote! Voting is an essential part of our
democratic process, and PTAs can encourage
community members to take part.
What does this look like?
• Encourage friends, family, and neighbors to
vote.
• Remind PTA members about election day.
• Ensure that members know about early
voting.
• If there are ballot measures, remind members
of the importance of their vote on that issue.
• Raise the volume of your efforts as Election
Day approaches.
On Election Day…
Show support of Election Day by giving
staff time to go vote.
Ask your staff and volunteers if they
voted and encourage them to do so.
Celebrate democracy with an Election
Day party.
Questions?
Reach out to National PTA’s Government Affairs
staff with any Election Day questions!
Phone: 703-518-1200
E-mail: govtaffairs@pta.org