Alan Dye

In a statement by Alan Dye of the Washington firm of Webster, Chamberlain and Bean, churches, which fall under Section 501c(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, are prohibited from participating in electoral activity.He went on to say that the Christian Coalition, a 501c(4) organization, produces its Voter Guides as purely educational tools that are within the rights of churches to distribute.Therefore, Dye stated, churches that distribute Christian Coalition Voter Guides are not in jeopardy of losing their tax-exempt status.

A spokesperson for The Interfaith Alliance (TIA), however, questions Dye's assessment."It is not at all clear that the Christian Coalition's Voter Guides are fully consistent with the law," said Mohamad Elleithee, TIA's National Field Director."The Federal Election Commission has filed suit against the Christian Coalition in federal court for violating election laws by illegally coordinating voter guide production and distribution with political campaigns.In addition, the IRS has launched an investigation into whether the Christian Coalition has violated its tax-exempt status through such coordination."

"If the Christian Coalition is found to have violated its tax-exempt status or federal election laws, then every church which distributes its voter guides is in jeopardy of losing its tax-exempt status," said Elleithee.