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Non-profit

True the Vote

Tax ID:

27-2860095
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $423,535
Expenses: $563,388
Assets: $60,732
Website:

http://www.truethevote.org
Location:

Houston, Texas
Founded:

2011

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True the Vote is a Houston-based right-of-center nonprofit founded in 2011 by Catherine Engelbrecht that focuses on election integrity and stopping voter fraud. 1 2 It trains citizens to be poll watchers and advocates for standardized voter ID laws and updated election equipment with better technology. 3 4

Some Democrats have accused the organization of “voter suppression.” 5 The organization appears to be among the conservative groups allegedly targeted by the IRS during the Obama administration. 6

Background

True the Vote is a Houston-based conservative-leaning nonprofit group that trains citizens to be poll watchers and advocates for free and fair elections. 7 It was founded in 2011 by “tea party” activist Catherine Engelbrecht, who is the president of the organization. 8 9 The organization’s motto is, “If you see something at the polls that just doesn’t seem right, record it.” 10

True the Vote asserts “process is key” and states that it focuses on elections rather than public policy issues because “your ability as a citizen to have a say in our government” is paramount to other issues. 11

In training citizens to protect election integrity, True the Vote says that “politicos and powerbrokers” expect the average citizens to trust them to “have total control over the election process, including what happens at the polls, who counts the ballots, and who watches them count.” The group states, “You cannot afford to leave this important work to other people.” 12

Advocacy

True the Vote is a watchdog advocating against forms of voter fraud including voter registration fraud, mail ballot fraud including voting under someone else’s name, vote “harvesting” (whereby paid political operatives collect ballots and solicit votes), voting more than once, and institutionalized fraud, such as when officials willfully neglect federal law on voter roll maintenance and disregard state laws for ID or signature matching. 13 True the Vote advocates for national standardized voter ID laws and for updated election equipment with better technology. 14

True the Vote launched a web-based app to allow citizens to report problems that occur locally regarding voting. 15

History

The organization informally formed in 2009, when Engelbrecht worked as a poll watcher along with others in a “tea party” group she founded called the King Street Patriots. The members decided to continue poll watching and monitoring election information. So they investigated the voter registration information for the district represented by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) after noting that thousands of addresses appeared to house six or more voters. 16

The group reviewed 3,800 voter registrations in the district and found 500 problematic registrations. Of those, more than 200 were allegedly registered at a vacant lot. An election official said the building was demolished and the residents moved. Because of True the Vote’s work, in 2010, election officials reportedly required 400 to 500 voters in the district to provide additional information to verify their addresses. 17

In 2012, True the Vote partnered with Code Red USA on election integrity efforts and sent volunteers into battleground states to be election watchdogs. 18

Democrats have accused True the Vote of intimidating voters, and in 2012, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), then-ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced he was investigating the organization. 19

In May 2013, after news of the Obama administration’s IRS targeting controversy, Engelbrecht alleged that True the Vote faced additional scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status. 20 The organization gained a tax-exempt status that year. 21

Ahead of the 2020 election, True the Vote said it would deploy 10,000 poll observers across the United States. 22

In November 2020, True the Vote dropped lawsuits alleging voter fraud in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania less than a week after suing in all four states. The group filed the lawsuits in close battleground states after the controversial 2020 presidential election. 23

In December 2020, Trump donor Fred Eshelman sued True the Vote for $2.5 million — the amount he contributed to the group — claiming it did not do enough to expose fraud in the 2020 election. 24 A Texas state court dismissed the lawsuit in April after it determined that Eshelman did not have standing. 25

References

  1. True the Vote. LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/real-true-the-vote/
  2. “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  3. True the Vote. Charity Navigator. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/272860095
  4. Frequently Asked Questions. True the Vote. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.truethevote.org/missions-faq/
  5. “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  6. “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  7. [1] True the Vote. Charity Navigator. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/272860095
  8. True the Vote. LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/real-true-the-vote/
  9. “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  10. [1] “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  11. About. True the Vote. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.truethevote.org/about/
  12. Mission. True the Vote. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.truethevote.org/truethevote-mission/
  13. Frequently Asked Questions. True the Vote. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.truethevote.org/missions-faq/
  14. Frequently Asked Questions. True the Vote. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.truethevote.org/missions-faq/
  15. Frequently Asked Questions. True the Vote. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.truethevote.org/missions-faq/
  16. Saul, Stephanie. “Looking, Very Closely, for Voter Fraud.” New York Times. September 16, 2012. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/us/politics/groups-like-true-the-vote-are-looking-very-closely-for-voter-fraud.html
  17. Saul, Stephanie. “Looking, Very Closely, for Voter Fraud.” New York Times. September 16, 2012. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/us/politics/groups-like-true-the-vote-are-looking-very-closely-for-voter-fraud.html
  18. Saul, Stephanie. “Looking, Very Closely, for Voter Fraud.” New York Times. September 16, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/us/politics/groups-like-true-the-vote-are-looking-very-closely-for-voter-fraud.html
  19. “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  20. “True The Vote | Free and Fair Elections for All Americans.” Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007494/
  21. True the Vote. Charity Navigator. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/272860095
  22. Stahl, Jeremy. “What I Learned From Training to Be a Right-Wing Poll Watcher.” Slate. November 2, 2020. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/11/true-the-vote-poll-observer-training.html
  23. DFW/Associated Press. “Houston-Based Conservative Group ‘True The Vote’ Ends State Lawsuits Alleging Voter Fraud.” Dallas-Fort Worth CBS Local. November 17, 2020. https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/11/17/houston-conservative-group-true-the-vote-ends-state-lawsuits-voter-fraud/
  24. Medley, Alison. “Trump donor sues Houston’s True the Vote for $2.5M over failure to expose election fraud.” Houston Chronicle. December 2, 2020. Accessed November 13, 2021.. https://www.chron.com/news/election2020/article/Trump-donor-sues-Houston-s-True-the-Vote-for-15765995.php
  25. Press Release. “Victory! Lawsuit Against True the Vote Dismissed.” April 14, 2021. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.bopplaw.com/victory-lawsuit-against-true-the-vote-dismissed/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: September 1, 2013

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Dec Form 990 $423,535 $563,388 $60,732 $6,625 N $423,535 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $434,795 $435,728 $111,848 $12,604 N $304,891 $0 $0 $90,000
    2015 Dec Form 990 $940,766 $816,820 $191,042 $90,865 N $940,764 $0 $2 $170,000 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $1,193,219 $1,317,727 $111,941 $135,710 N $1,193,092 $0 $2 $120,000 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,359,081 $1,379,426 $152,158 $37,939 N $1,082,535 $276,545 $1 $123,615 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $1,797,013 $1,580,406 $224,953 $90,389 N $754,723 $1,090,930 $103 $90,000 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)