POLICY
The level of permissible participation in political activity by State of Ohio employees varies depending upon the classification of the employee. Generally, unclassified employees may participate in political activity with few restrictions, while classified employees have stricter limitations on their participation. State employees may verify their classification status by contacting their agency personnel officer.
The following are general guidelines regarding state employee participation in political activities. These guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive in scope but, rather, provide general guidance on political participation by state employees. A more complete list of permitted and prohibited activities is contained within OAC 123:1-46-02.
PROCEDURES
UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE PROHIBITIONS
- Participating in any political activity on state time
- Soliciting political contributions from any state employee
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE PROHIBITIONS
- Participating in partisan political activity
- Participating in or declaring to be a candidate in a partisan campaign, elections involving primaries, partisan ballots or partisan candidates
- Soliciting political contributions from any state employee
- Receiving or collecting money for a partisan campaign
- Selling political party fundraising tickets
- Holding office, elected or appointed, in a political party or within a partisan candidate’s campaign organization
- Participation in a political action committee or political caucus that supports partisan activity
- Circulating nominating petitions
- Distributing political material
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITY
- Registration and voting
- Vote
- Making voluntary contributions to political candidates or organizations
- Attend political rallies on their own time
- Signing nominating petitions in support of individuals
- Expressing opinions orally or in writing
- Displaying political materials at home or on their own personal vehicle
- Wearing political badges or buttons
- Circulating non-partisan petitions or petitions relating to legislation on their own time
- Serving as poll workers. Employees may use vacation, compensatory, or personal leave to be able to work the polls. For more information on this subject, please visit the DAS Human Resources Division, Policy Development website at http://ohio.gov/hrpolicy
PROHIBITED POLITICAL ACTIVITY FOR CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES
THE FOLLOWING ARE EXAMPLES OF IMPERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES FOR EMPLOYEES IN THE CLASSIFIED SERVICE
- Candidacy for public office in a partisan election
- Candidacy for public office in a nonpartisan general election if the nomination to candidacy was obtained in a partisan primary or through the circulation of nominating petitions identified with a political party
- Filing of petitions meeting statutory requirements for partisan candidacy to elective office
- Circulation of official nominating petitions for any candidate participating in a partisan election
- Service in an elected or appointed office in any partisan political organization
- Acceptance or a party-sponsored appointment to any office normally filled by partisan election
- Campaigning by writing for publications, by distributing political material, or by writing or making speeches on behalf of a candidate for partisan elective office, when such activities are directed toward party success
- Solicitation, either directly or indirectly, of any assessment, contribution or subscription, either monetary or in-kind, for any political party of political candidate
- Solicitation of the sale, or actual sale, of political party tickets
- Partisan activities at the election polls, such as solicitation of votes for other than nonpartisan candidates and nonpartisan issues
- Service as witness or challenger for any party or partisan committee
- Participation in political caucuses of a partisan nature
- Participation in a political action committee which supports partisan activity
DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES
The director of an agency may institute an investigation when a classified employee engages in prohibited political activity. Such actions could result in discipline of the employee up to and including removal.
UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES MAY ENGAGE IN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
Employees in the unclassified service, who serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority and are not subject to competitive examination, may engage in political activities, unless otherwise specifically precluded by federal or state law. Unclassified employees may not solicit state employees for the financial benefit of a political party of a candidate for public office.
USE OF STATE PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Even when state employees may participate in political activities, they may not engage in those activities while on state time, on state property, or using state equipment.
- Ideally, if a state employee chooses to participate in campaign activities, those activities should be conducted on the weekends or outside normal work hours to eliminate any chance of an inadvertent violation of the law, or even the appearance of impropriety
- However, a state employee may engage in political activity during normal work hours if he or she uses the lunch hour if not on state property, personal leave, compensatory leave, or vacation leave for that purpose
WHEN ENGAGING IN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES, EMPLOYEE SHOULD TAKE THE FOLLOWING MEASURES
- Direct all political telephone calls to the appropriate campaign office of campaign volunteer, but away from the state
- Accurately and carefully document the use of the lunch hour, personal leave, compensatory time, or vacation leave when used for political activities. This includes ensuring that all proper approvals have been obtained
- Completely avoid the use of state property or equipment to support political activities. For these purposes, employees should interpret the terms “property” and “equipment” broadly. If an employee receives an email or phone call related to political activity, the employee has an affirmative obligation to respond that he or she should not be contacted on state time and on state equipment. If the employee wishes to receive further contact on the matter, he or she should provide a personal phone number and/or email address. State employees may not use state offices, conference rooms, computers, printers, office supplies, email systems, telephones, copiers, fax machines, vehicles, or any other state property or equipment to engage in political activities
- Avoid even the suggestion of impropriety by considering the appearance of their conduct given the surrounding circumstances, even if their conduct is permissible under the law
- When in doubt, ask agency legal counsel for guidance
SOLICIATION BY OR ACCEPTANCE OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY ELECTED OFFICERS
No current state elected officer, campaign committee of such an officer, employee of the state elected officer’s office, or any other person or entity shall solicit or accept a contribution, from any of the following:
- A state employee whose appointing authority is the state elected officer
- A state employee whose appointing authority is authorized or required by law to be appointed by the state elected officer
- A state employee who functions in or is employed in or by the same public agency, department, division, or office as the state elected officer
For example, this section of the law restricts employees who work for ODNR or other cabinet agencies from giving contributions to the Governor’s campaign committee. However, these same employees would not be prohibited from giving a campaign contribution to another statewide office holder or a legislator.
No candidate for a state elective office, campaign committee of such a candidate, employee of the candidate’s office if the candidate is a state elected officer, or any other person or entity shall solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate for a state elective office or to such a candidate’s campaign committee, from any of the following:
- A state employee at the time of the solicitation; whose appointing authority will be the candidate, if elected
- A state employee at the time of the solicitation, whose appointing authority will be appointed by the candidate, if elected, as authorized or required by law
- A state employee at the time of the solicitation, who will function in or be employed in or by the same public agency, department, division, or office as the candidate, if elected
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES RUNNING FOR ELECTED OFFICE: Classified state employees, by law, may not be a candidate in a partisan election or a candidate in a non-partisan election if their nomination was obtained in a partisan primary or through the circulation of nominating petitions identified with a political party.
UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES RUNNING FOR ELECTED OFFICE: If an unclassified employee runs for an office with duties which conflict with the employee’s governmental duties, the employee may be informed that assuming that office, if elected, will necessitate termination of state employment.
Notice Requirement: Prior to initiating any formal actions to run for an elected office, unclassified state employees who wish to seek an elected office should provide notice of their intent to run to the agency’s chief legal counsel or the person responsible for legal compliance. These notices allow agency legal counsel to:
Consult with the agency’s appointing authority to determine whether an apparent or potential conflict of interest exists between the employee’s job duties and the duties of the elected office
- Ascertain whether the employee is seeking (or should seek) a leave of absence to accommodate campaign activity and whether such a leave is operationally feasible for the agency (see discussion below)
- Provide and discuss with the employee the section below entitled “Political Activity Restrictions” to help assure that the employee does not violate this policy
Instances requiring notice include:
- Unclassified employees running for part-time non-partisan elected office, such as school board member, township trustee, or city council member
- Unclassified employees running for political party leadership positions, such as local or state central committee positions
- Unclassified employees running for full-time elected office
Leave of Absence – Because campaigns for certain elected offices can be extremely time-consuming, some unclassified employees may wish to request a leave of absence from their state jobs when running for elected office.
- When such requests are made, agency legal counsel should consult with agency leaders to determine if such a request is reasonable and if so, the period for which such a leave should be granted, considering the employee’s position and how the leave of absence would impact the operations of an agency.
- If it is decided that such a leave should be granted, legal counsel and the agency director may recommend a specific time period for the employee to take a leave of absence if, in their view, the particular election campaign is likely to adversely affect the employee’s ability to fulfill his or her job responsibilities, but that the agency can work around the employee’s leave of absence.
Ballot Issues:
Despite the limitations upon personal political activities, employees may, as a part of their job duties, provide information relating to ballot issues that may affect the State and it departments. State employees must only provide objective information concerning the issues.
Permissible employee conduct – Concerning issues relevant to state responsibilities, employees may:
- Disseminate, either verbally or in writing, objective information concerning the issue and its impact, particularly as it may relate to a specific department. The public may direct questions to affected departments and, as a result, those departments may need to prepare and disseminate objective information sheets about the issue in order to prepare their employees to answer questions, and to direct the public to the organizations supporting and opposing the issue for further information; and
- Correct or clarify factual errors or misinformation concerning an issue.
Impermissible employee conduct – State employees may not use state resources to:
- Engage in activities unrelated to their job duties or the responsibilities of state government;
- Advocate a particular position, or present that or any other position as the “official” or “state” position concerning a ballot issue; or
- Favor, or in any way manifest a bias toward, a particular position.
As employees disseminate information or answer questions, they must keep in mind that the information they provide as a state employee, on state time, or with state resources, must be objective and must leave the final interpretation of the information, that is, whether to vote for or against an issue on the ballot, to the voter.
Political Activity Restrictions
The following is a short summary of the political restrictions related to running for office as a State of Ohio employee:
- Employees in the classified service may not run for political office. The classified service is defined as all “persons in active pay status serving in the competitive classified civil service of the state.”
- Only an employee in the unclassified service may run for political office.
Those running for office must abide by these restrictions:
- State employees may not participate in political activities while on state time, property or while using state equipment.
- Unclassified employees may not solicit classified state employees for the financial benefit of a political party of a candidate for public office.
- It may be necessary to request a leave of absence to run for political office. An Agency Director has discretion to decide if a request for leave is reasonable or if should be granted.
State equipment and time may not be used for campaigning:
- All political telephone calls must be directed away from state offices, to campaign office or campaign volunteers.
- If an employee receives an email or phone call related to political activity, the employee has an affirmative obligation to respond that he or she should not be contacted on state time and on state equipment. If the employee wishes to receive further contact on the matter, he or she should provide a personal phone number and/or email address.
- State employees may not use state offices, conference rooms, computers, printers, office supplies, email systems, telephones, copiers, fax machines, vehicles, or any other state property or equipment to engage in political activities.
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