Take Action: Oppose Restrictions on Voter Engagement
7/9/26
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed sweeping changes to federal grantmaking that would harm nonprofits and communities, including one provision that will expand restrictions related to voter registration activities and public policy advocacy conducted by grant recipients.
Take Action Today
In just five minutes, you can submit a public comment urging OMB to reconsider provisions that could discourage lawful, nonpartisan voter registration and civic engagement by nonprofits. Use the sample comment below, or customize it with your own experience. Submit your comment before July 13.
Sample Comment: I am concerned that the proposed changes in Section 200.450 will create confusion and discourage nonprofits and higher ed from engaging in lawful, nonpartisan voter registration and civic engagement activities. Existing grant rules already provide sufficient accountability and oversight. Additional restrictions create unnecessary administrative burdens and could lead organizations to scale back important services that help people participate in our democracy. Any final rule should be consistent with existing federal laws, including the National Voter Registration Act which requires some nonprofits administering certain federal programs to offer voter registration, and should not create a chilling effect on lawful nonprofit activities.
Currently, only a small number of federal grant programs have explicit restrictions on voter registration activities. The proposed voter registration rule, which would be implemented without seeking the approval of Congress, would implement a broader ban that applies to all federal grants to nonprofits and institutions of higher education.
The proposal would NOT prohibit nonprofits or higher ed from conducting lawful, nonpartisan voter registration activities, even if they are recipients of federal grants, provided they use non-federal funds to pay for the registration activities. However, the language could create significant confusion about what organizations can and cannot do.
Similarly, there is already a ban in place that prohibits the use of federal grant money for lobbying. However, lobbying has a very specific, well-understood definition that generally requires communicating with a policy maker, their staff, or agency official about a specific piece of legislation or policy. This new provision would expand that ban to cover a much broader set of communications that fall under issue advocacy and related messaging. The newly-expanded, highly-subjective restriction could have a significant impact on an organization’s ability to discuss issues tied to housing, food security, education, or climate change.
OMB’s intentions with respect to the restrictions it desires to place on the rights of organizations are not clear and OMB does not identify how it will determine which funds have been used by the organization for which purposes, or how OMB plans to administer the new rules. Also concerning is the OMB's assertion that the OMB alone has the authority to disapprove federal funding without reason or recourse.
The biggest concern may not be the direct legal impact of the rule, but its practical effect. When rules become more complex or unclear, organizations often become more cautious. Some organizations may mistakenly conclude that receiving any federal funding means they cannot engage in voter registration activities at all—even when those activities are lawful and supported entirely by non-federal funds. This kind of confusion can have a chilling effect, causing organizations to reduce or abandon civic engagement efforts that help community members participate in democracy.
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