5 U.S.C. § 1502
Section 1502 · Influencing elections; taking part in political campaigns; prohibitions; exceptions
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 51 court decisions — leading case United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers (1973)
Most recently applied in White v. Indiana Democratic Party Ex Rel. Parker (March 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) A State or local officer or employee may not—
(1) use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office;
(2) 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; or
(3) if the salary of the employee is paid completely, directly or indirectly, by loans or grants made by the United States or a Federal agency, be a candidate for elective office.
(b) A State or local officer or employee retains the right to vote as he chooses and to express his opinions on political subjects and candidates.
(c) Subsection (a)(3) of this section does not apply to—
(1) the Governor or Lieutenant Governor of a State or an individual authorized by law to act as Governor;
(2) the mayor of a city;
(3) a duly elected head of an executive department of a State, municipality, or the District of Columbia who is not classified under a State, municipal, or the District of Columbia merit or civil-service system; or
(4) an individual holding elective office.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Statutes at Large
In subsection (a), the term “State or local officer or employee”, defined in section 1501, is substituted for the first 41 words of former section 118k(a). The words “any part of his salary or compensation” are omitted as included in “anything of value”.
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Amendments
2012—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 112–230, §2, amended par. (3) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) read as follows: “be a candidate for elective office.”
Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 112–230, §3(c), which directed the substitution of “, municipality, or the District of Columbia’ ” for “ ‘or municipality” and “, municipal, or the District of Columbia’ ” for “ ‘or municipal”, was executed by substituting “, municipality, or the District of Columbia” for “or municipality” and “, municipal, or the District of Columbia” for “or municipal”, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
1974—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 93–443 substituted “be a candidate for elective office” for “take an active part in political management or in political campaigns”.
Effective Date of 2012 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 112–230 effective 30 days after Dec. 28, 2012, see section 5(a) of Pub. L. 112–230, set out as a note under section 1501 of this title.
Effective Date of 1974 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 93–443 effective Jan. 1, 1975, see section 410(a) of Pub. L. 93–443, set out as a note under section 431 of Title 2, The Congress.