Guidance on political activities from UC's Office of General Counsel

UC's Office of General Counsel has issued an advisory on political activities. Below is an excerpt.

The University strongly supports public and civic engagement by members of the University community, in both their professional and personal capacities. At the same time, as both a Section[1] 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization and a state entity, the University is prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in political campaign activities: 1) supporting or opposing candidates for elective public office (“electioneering”); and 2) supporting or opposing measures that have qualified for the ballot. These restrictions apply to the activities of the University overall, as well as to activities of individual University faculty and staff acting in their capacity as representatives of the University and/or using University resources. 

This advisory, previously issued in 2019, is being re-issued now in light of the upcoming election cycle to remind the University community of the applicable rules and about the importance of complying with them.

… It is important for all University employees to comply with these rules. There are potential criminal and civil penalties for misuse of public resources, and, in the case of the federal rules that govern tax-exempt charitable organizations, the University's tax-exempt status could be revoked (and/or substantial tax penalties imposed) by an activity that constitutes electioneering.

Please visit https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2024/02/ogc-guidance-on-political-activities.html for details.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at ammegaro@ucanr.edu or (530) 750-1218.

Anne Megaro
Government and Community Relations Director

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