WASHINGTON - Scores of houses of worship nationwide are reexamining how they conduct get-out-the-vote programs and other election activities as the Internal Revenue Service investigates religious institutions for illegal campaign activity.
Churches grew more nervous when the IRS launched an investigation of the liberal All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif., after a former rector delivered a sermon that was critical of the Bush administration and the Iraq War in 2004. The church last month said it would fight the IRS in court.
With Congressional elections on Tuesday, several religious and voting-rights groups are schooling churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions about what they can and cannot do politically....