Publications

Election Campaigning

 

The general provisions on the rights and the restrictions on campaigning for office in the Sub-Chapter can be found in Section 1 of the Retiree Elections Code. These provisions are:

No funds of the Federation or any subordinate body can be spent in campaigning for any elective office within an AFSCME retiree organization.

  • No publication of any kind which is sponsored by or supported by the Federation or any subordinate body can make any endorsement or otherwise support any candidate for elective office within an AFSCME retiree organization.

  • Any member who has been nominated for office or who announces his/her intention to run for office has the right to one mailing to the membership—made through the Chapter (if appropriate) or Sub-Chapter office—before the election. This mailing is not to be made at the Chapter's or Sub-Chapter's expense.

It is probably this third provision that is the most misunderstood. Note that the right is "the right to mail," not "the right to print." The candidate must prepare what he or she wants mailed, furnish the envelopes, do the stuffing and sealing, and put on the stamps or furnish the money to pay for the mailing meter charge. The candidate must, in effect, furnish everything but the names and addresses. All the Chapter or Sub-Chapter is required to do is address and mail the material. Even here, if there is expense connected with the addressing, it must be borne by the candidate or his or her supporters.

Note also that the candidate is not entitled to a mailing list for his or her own use.

It is understood that no campaign signs or leaflets may be displayed at the polling place itself. Sub-Chapters may, of course, make additional rules on such matters as how far from the polling place campaigning can take place. The major tests of any additional rules the Sub-Chapter may adopt are:

  • Are the rules reasonable?

  • Are the rules uniformly applied to all candidates and at all polling places, if more than one location is used?

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