FOES OF SSM WAGE UNTRADITIONAL FIGHT IN OREGON: From The Oregonian

With four weeks left, supporters of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage are relying on churches and mailed-in petitions to gather the 100,840 valid signatures they need to make the November ballot.

The mostly behind-doors campaign is taking place after Sunday church services and in the homes, workplaces and neighborhoods of supporters. It's a departure from the traditional approach of collecting signatures in heavily trafficked public places.

And that makes it harder for opponents to be there to persuade people not to sign. That's significant, because it's easier and cheaper for opponents to attack a measure before it gets on the ballot than it is to defeat it at the polls.

There have been no reports of violations of signature-gathering rules, but opponents say they are working on filing complaints.

The campaign also has raised questions about how far churches can go to promote ballot measures without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, which carries some limits on political activity. The issue also could affect the presidential election in Oregon, given President Bush's faith-based campaign. ...

Kassell said her group is monitoring the political activity of the churches working to get the initiative on the ballot.

"Talking about the issue is one thing," she said. "Actively collecting signatures, launching a political organization and gathering funds to defeat or support a ballot measure, that's something else."

The risk for churches is the loss of their federal tax-exempt status as nonprofits.

Federal laws prohibit tax-exempt churches from supporting or opposing candidates for office. In 1995, a church in New York became the only house of worship to lose its tax-exempt status after it ran a newspaper ad in 1992 critical of Bill Clinton.

The laws do allow some lobbying on legislative matters, which include ballot measure signature drives.

Lobbying cannot exceed an "insubstantial" share of the church's overall activities. The law doesn't define the term. One court said churches can devote less than 5 percent of their activities to lobbying without jeopardizing their status, though another court said more than 20 percent would endanger it.

Running ballot measure campaigns in Oregon through churches is not new. The Oregon Citizens Alliance used churches extensively in the late 1980s and early 1990s to qualify anti-gay rights and anti-abortion initiatives, said Bill Lunch, an Oregon State University political scientist who has studied the religious right in Oregon. ...

Critics of Bush are complaining about his campaign's efforts in Ohio to set up a network of "friendly churches."

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posted by Eve at 12:07 AM VOTE

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