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Entry bubble Political Activity for Federal Employees (The Hatch Act)

By: Sommer | February 01, 2008 | Category: General

The 2008 presidential election is a really big deal for our country. It’s nice to see so many people turning out for the primaries.

Under the Hatch Act, though, federal, state, and local employees need to use some caution during the campaigning and election process, since they are only allowed to participate in limited activities. Under new laws, most federal employees can volunteer and contribute to the election process, but some restrictions still remain.

Remember that employees of certain federal agencies may not participate in any partisan political activities.

All federal employees may:

  • Register and vote as they choose
  • Assist in voter registration drives
  • Express opinions about candidates and issues
  • Contribute money to political organizations
  • Attend political rallies and meetings
  • Sign nominating petitions
  • Campaign for or against referendum questions, constitutional amendments, municipal ordinances
  • Join political clubs or parties

Federal employees may never:

  • Use official authority or influence to interfere with an election
  • Solicit or discourage political activity of anyone with business before the agency
  • Solicit, accept, or receive political contributions
  • Engage in political activity while on duty, in a government office, while wearing an official uniform, or while using a government vehicle (This includes sending political emails from your government computer and email account.)
  • Become a candidate in a partisan election

If you violate the Hatch Act you could lose your job.  Make sure you fully understand your rights under this legislation before taking up a political cause. 

Happy Groundhog Day tomorrow! Pray that Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow – I’m ready for spring!!

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: election   employee   federal   government   hatchact   sommer   vote  

Comments (2):

blue comment bubble Posted by dcrider on February 02, 2008 at 03:05 PM EST

This is the first article fits for this web site. Thanks a lot. We expect to see this type of article on the official gov blog site.

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blue comment bubble Posted by johnhuetteman on February 03, 2008 at 10:35 PM EST

I just wanted to comment on this blog in general. You might be thinking that I don't have much of a life and that I need to get out more often (or find better things to do with my time), all of which are true, but after having read the section "Meet the Bloggers" and a post or two, I just wanted to let you guys know that your blog is pretty cool and unbelievably friendly for being a federal government publication. Who would have ever thought? A contemporary federal government blog written without so much "federal government."

I personally think that Gov Gab is a great approach in connecting Americans to their [federal] government and hope you keep up the great work!

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