Probe of Churches’ Election Fliers Urged
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WASHINGTON — A church-state watchdog group has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate eight churches that allegedly violated their tax-exempt status by distributing Christian Coalition voter guides the Sunday before the November elections.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the “partisan” guides were “deliberately designed” to help elect conservative Republican candidates. Distributing them in churches, he said, violated IRS tax codes that prohibit religious institutions from directly supporting candidates.
Lynn urged the IRS to revoke the churches’ tax-exempt status or assess monetary or other penalties if the allegations are upheld.
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