Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-102
§1503 Nonpartisan Candidacies Permitted
Title 5 › PART II — CIVIL SERVICE FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES › CHAPTER 15 — POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES › § 1503
Summary
Allows a state or local government official or employee to run in an election that is nonpartisan. That means no candidate in that election is listed as representing a political party that got any presidential elector votes in the most recent presidential election.
Full Legal Text
Title 5, §1503
Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
section 1502(a)(3) of this title does not prohibit any State or local officer or employee from being a candidate in any election if none of the candidates is to be nominated or elected at such election as representing a party any of whose candidates for Presidential elector received votes in the last preceding election at which Presidential electors were selected.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 118n (as applicable to 5 U.S.C. 118k(a)).
July 19, 1940, ch. 640, § 4 “Sec. 18 (as applicable to § 12 of the Act of Aug. 2, 1939; added
July 19, 1940, ch. 640, § 4, 54 Stat. 767)”, 54 Stat. 772. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1974—Pub. L. 93–443 substituted “candidacies” for “political activity” in section catchline and provision permitting nonpartisan candidacies for prior provision permitting political activity in connection with (1) an election and the preceding campaign if none of the candidates was to be nominated or elected at that election as representing a party any of whose candidates for presidential elector received votes in the last preceding election at which presidential electors were selected, or (2) a question which was not specifically identified with a National or State political party and deeming questions relating to constitutional
Amendments
, referendums, approval of municipal ordinances, and others of a similar character as not specifically identified with a National or State political party.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1974 AmendmentAmendment 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 30101 of Title 52, Voting and Elections.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
5 U.S.C. § 1503
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102