As we enter another election year, our office wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of Oregon’s political activity laws, which are located in ORS Chapter 260.  This information is not meant to be comprehensive, so if you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our office.  

“Political activity” means supporting or opposing:

• measures; 

• candidates;

• recalls;

• political committees; or

• petitions.

The political activity laws apply differently depending whether the person engaging in the activity is a public employee, an appointed official, or an elected official, each of which is discussed briefly below.  

Public Employees

Public employees may not promote or oppose election petitions, candidates or measures (i.e., engage in political activity) while on the job during work hours.  Towards this end, city resources may not be used for political activity, and any measure fact sheet prepared by city staff must be equitable, fair, unbiased and dispassionate.  A “public employee” is defined as an unelected public official (whether paid or unpaid), and includes appointed board and commission members (i.e. the Planning Commission).  

Public employees may, however, use personal time, lunch hours, breaks and days off—essentially time when they are considered to be off-duty—to participate in voluntary political activity.  Employees should keep clear records when engaging in political activity to demonstrate that such political activity actually occurs while off-duty.  In addition, it is sometimes difficult to tell when an employee is engaging in official duties or is on personal time.  As a result, it is a good practice for employees to declare publicly that they are acting in a personal capacity on their own time when they engage in political advocacy.

Appointed Officials

Appointed officials may not engage in political activities while acting in their official capacity, which means, for instance, when they are at a meeting of their board or commission, working on a duty assigned by the board or commission, working on an official publication for the board or commission, or when appearing at an event in their official capacity.  Essentially an appointed official is considered a “public employee” for purposes of the political activity laws when they act in their official capacity. 

Just like public employees, appointed officials may use personal time—essentially time when they are not acting in their role with the city—to participate in voluntary political activity.  If an appointed official uses their title for political activity, such as in a letter to the editor or while speaking at a public event, then they need to make clear that they are not acting in their official capacity and that their title is being used for identification purposes only.  

Elected Officials

Elected officials may themselves engage in political activity freely, including advocating a political position or endorsing a candidate for public office.  Elected officials are not considered public employees for purposes of the political activities laws, and may even use their own designated public office space and equipment in advocacy activities, but only consistent with otherwise applicable policies concerning use of public property and equipment.  Elected officials must, however, exercise caution not to involve any public employees’ work time in their political activities, and may not direct or request that a public employee, either on or off duty, perform any political activity.  In other words, while this prohibition does not directly apply to elected officials, it does apply when elected officials require or encourage public employees or appointed officials to engage in political activities in an official capacity, such as having staff help draft a resolution for the elected officials to adopt in support of or opposition to a ballot measure.

It is important to understand and follow these guidelines not only to comply with the law, but also to ensure civil penalties are not imposed. Any penalty for violation of the political activity laws must be paid by the violating employee or official.