Covered state District of Columbia, and local employees may not:

• be candidates for public office in a partisan election; *


• use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination; or


• directly or indirectly coerce, attempt to coerce, command, or advise a state or local officer or employee to pay, lend, or contribute anything of value to a party, committee, organization, agency, or person for political purposes.

State District of Columbia, and local employees subject to the Hatch Act should note that an election is partisan if any candidate is to be nominated or elected as representing a political party, for example, the Democratic or Republican Party.

A note of caution - an employee’s conduct is also subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the employing agency. Prohibitions of the Hatch Act are not affected by state or local laws.

*On December 19, 2012, Congress passed the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012 (the Act). The Act became effective on January 27, 2013. Now, only state District of Columbia, or local government employees whose salaries are paid for entirely by federal funds are prohibited from running for partisan office. All other state District of Columbia, and local employees, even if they are otherwise covered by Hatch Act restrictions, are free under the Hatch Act to run for partisan office.