A supposedly ‘non-partisan’ nonprofit was excluding typically conservative interests from its targeted ads to encourage voter registration, The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday.
The Voter Participation Center (VPC), which describes itself as a “non-partisan organization,” posted advertisements on Facebook encouraging voter turnout in swing states, but instructed Facebook to exclude showing advertisements to people interested in things associated with Republican voters, such as NASCAR, military novelist Tom Clancy, the PGA Tour and Duck Dynasty, according to the ad data.
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The VPC has ties to the Democratic Party, with founder Paige Gardner working on the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign, and 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign manager John Podesta is a founding board member, according to Influence Watch.
“[The] Voter Participation Center has laughed at the line forbidding partisan voter registration for years. Their partisan ad targeting fits with their using Democratic microtargeting firms. Will they ever be held accountable?” Capital Research Center CEO Scott Walter told the Washington Free Beacon. “In an age of microtargeting and zero accountability, charities should not be allowed to register voters or get out the vote, period.”
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NASCAR and the PGA Tour have fans that lean Republican on average, according to a 2013 study by the National Journal. Other excluded interests included the Indianapolis 500, with the racing series Indycar also skewing Republican.
The VPC also made their ads target more liberal-associated interests, such as pop singer Taylor Swift, comedian Jordan Peele, “African-American Literature” and hot yoga, according to the ad data. Taylor Swift endorsed Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen for Senate and former Rep. Jim Cooper in the 2018 midterm elections, according to NBC.
The VPC has engaged in dubiously legal behavior in the past, with the organization working with the Center for Voter Information to pressure people into voting, sending out mail that said they were “sending the mailing to you and other voters across Ohio with your first name to share who does and does not vote in an effort to promote election participation.” The VPC also allegedly illegally retained sensitive voter information such as date of birth and also sent out pre-filled ballots to voters with inaccurate information in the 2020 election.
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Over the last 90 days, the VPC has spent $760,709 on 8,235 ads, according to the ad data. The VPC holds $18,954,464 in total assets, spending $31,388,915 on voter participation efforts, according to 2022 Internal Revenue Service tax filings.
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