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Prohibited Political Activity

The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act provides, in detail, political activities that are prohibited.   The basic definition of prohibited political activity includes activities that are in support of or in connection with any campaign for elective office or any political organization, or those activities that are either in support of or in opposition to a referendum question.  

In accordance with the Ethics Act and , University employees shall not intentionally perform any prohibited political activity during any compensated time, other than vacation, personal, or compensatory time off.

University employees may not intentionally misappropriate any State property or resources by engaging in any prohibited political activity for the benefit of any campaign for elective office or any political organization.

University employees may not require other persons in the employment of the state to participate in prohibited political activities. (Prohibited political activities are defined to include: planning or holding a political meeting, rally, etc.; distributing campaign literature; soliciting or making campaign contributions; managing or working on a campaign; campaigning itself; conducting political polls or surveys for a specific campaign or political organization; and soliciting votes on behalf of a candidate, political organization, or referendum question.

The Illinois Office of the Governor provided a Prohibited Political Guide that employees may find useful.  

Employees intentionally participating in Prohibited Political Activity may have fines levied against them by the EEC and may be subject to discipline or discharge by the university.  

For any additional questions, please contact the University Ethics Office at ethics1@siu.edu or 618-536-3461.