Table of Contents
Title: Guidelines for Legislative, Organizational & Candidate Support
Original CoS Document (slug): guidelines-for-legislative-organizational-candidate-support
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Created: 2021-12-06 12:20:18
Updated: 2021-12-15 03:00:04
Published: 2021-12-08 03:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T21:14:40.311577894
Convention of States New Jersey is working towards our mission of building an army of active, self-governing citizens by encouraging COS volunteers to engage in supporting or opposing legislation and getting involved in state and local elections. Below are some key guidelines to follow:
Legislative
You can always advocate on behalf of COS’s legislation. Before using COS resources to advocate for non-COS legislation, please check with your State Director. COS has a process for reviewing and approving advocacy on non-COS legislation to make sure it fits with our mission.
Organizations
It is important to use other organizations' events to spread the word about COS. District Captains and their teams should take part in local events where they can garner additional support for COS. While you are at these events, please make sure you don’t endorse the organization sponsoring
the event or any other organizations there.
Candidates
To ensure you do not violate state and federal election laws while
volunteering, please observe the following rules regarding your communication activities leading up to any election. These restrictions only apply when using COS resources, including the following: your COS email account, your COS volunteer title, the COS mailing list, the COS Slack teams, and the COS Facebook pages. We strongly encourage you to be active in all elections as a private citizen using your own resources. Find candidates who support your values and get involved with their campaigns, then encourage your friends to do the same.
| ===== DO ===== | ===== DON'T ===== |
| Do encourage volunteers to get out and vote. E.g., Do say “make sure you get out and vote.“. | Don’t tell volunteers who to vote for. E.g., Don’t say “re-elect our sponsor Rep. Patriot.”. |
| Do encourage general party participation in a non-partisan manner. E.g., Do say “make sure you get involved with candidates who support your values.”. | Don’t encourage political activity in support of a particular party or candidate. E.g., Don’t say “make sure you vote Republican.”. |
| Do use your personal resources to support candidates of your choosing. E.g., Do post in support of candidates you like in your personal Facebook page. | Don’t use COS resources to support candidates or political parties. E.g., Don’t post on the COS Facebook pages or send out an email to the COS list for a particular candidate. |
| Do lobby candidates to support our application. E.g., Do ask candidates to pledge to support our application if elected. | Don’t ask people to vote for pro-COS candidates. E.g., Don’t say “get out and support candidate Patriot. He’s pledged to support COS.”. |
| Do provide neutral, nonpartisan information about all candidates running for a position. E.g., Do say “Here’s a list of the candidates in your area, check out their websites and get involved.”. | Don’t give special treatment to specific candidates or parties. E.g., Don’t say “Here’s a link to Sen. Patriot’s re-election page, check it out and get involved.”. |
Conclusion
Very simply, as a private citizen, you are at liberty to support any candidate, organization, or legislation which is in line with your values. Restrictions only apply when using COS resources, including your COS email account, your COS volunteer title, the COS mailing list, the COS Slack teams, and the COS Facebook pages. If you are unsure at any time please discuss with your District Captain, Regional Captain, or State Director.