A Republican congresswoman is demanding the IRS investigate a self-described "non-partisan" voter registration charity that excludes fans of Republican-dominated interests and hobbies from its registration efforts.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) said in a letter to the IRS on Wednesday that the Voter Participation Center is appearing to sidestep federal tax laws that require charities to conduct voter registration activities in a neutral and nonpartisan manner. The congresswoman’s letter came on the heels of a Washington Free Beacon report on Monday that found the charity had excluded users interested in NASCAR, golf, Jeeps, and other hobbies typically associated with Republican men from receiving its Facebook ads informing voters how to participate in the upcoming election.
In addition, the Free Beacon reported, the Voter Participation Center has paid more than a combined $57 million to a pair of Democratic microtargeting firms that both claim credit for delivering wins for left-wing lawmakers in hotly contested House, Senate, and gubernatorial races. Tom Lopach, the former executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and former chief of staff to Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.), runs the Voter Participation Center.
"Publicly available Facebook ad targeting data suggests that [the Voter Participation Center] is deliberately violating these requirements by selectively targeting its advertisements and intentionally excluding conservative audiences," Tenney wrote in her letter. "VPC’s selective Facebook ad targeting and the significant financial connection between these organizations warrants further investigation by the IRS into Voter Participation Center’s compliance with its legal obligations as a 501(c)(3) organization."
The Voter Participation Center responded to Tenney’s letter on Wednesday, saying the lawmaker "mischaracterized" the nature of its "important, non-partisan work to register and turnout eligible Americans to vote."
The charity said it uses Facebook’s microtargeting capabilities to reach "underrepresented populations" for its voter registration efforts, such as users interested in "college football" and "dorm life." The group added that it excludes users from interest categories likely to be registered to vote already, such as people interested in luxury travel and shopping.
"While VPC’s work is focused on these underrepresented communities, we are happy when our ads reach any eligible citizen, and they are able to register to vote," the Voter Participation Center said Wednesday. "Elections should be a contest of ideas—not a contest of who gets to vote."
The Voter Participation Center’s claims are incongruent with Facebook ad library data, which show the group has excluded fans of Tom Clancy, Duck Dynasty, Jimmy Buffett, Daytona 500, Baywatch, Jack Nicholson, John Wayne, PGA Tour, and others from receiving more than 7,500 ads it has run on the platform for the past 90 days.
Meanwhile, the charity has instructed Facebook to target its voter registration ads to users interested in liberal topics such as "African-American Literature," "Jordan Peele," "Taylor Swift," "Patagonia," and "hot yoga."
The Voter Participation Center has spent more than $926,000 on a staggering 8,244 Facebook ads over the past 90 days in the swing states of Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, according to the Facebook ad library on Thursday.
The Voter Participation Center did not return a request for comment.