UNCLASSIFIED// ROUTINE R 241834Z JUL 20 MID510001488485U FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 213/20 PASS TO OFFICE CODES: FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS// INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS// MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS/JUL// SUBJ/PUBLIC AFFAIRS POLICY GUIDANCE CONCERNING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS// REF/A/PAG/ATSD(PA)/20200211/ REF/B/DOC/DODD/20080219/ REF/C/5 U.S.C, Sec. 7321-7326, The Hatch Act of 1939, as amended in 1993 REF/D/5 C.F.R. Parts 733-734, Political Activities of Federal Employees AMPN/REF A is Department of Defense Election Year Policy Public Affairs Guidance. REF B is Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces. REF C is 5 U.S.C, Sec. 7321-7326, The Hatch Act of 1939, as amended in 1993. REF D is 5 C.F.R. Parts 733-734, Political Activities of Federal Employees.// RMKS/1. This guidance governs activities relating to federal, state, and local political campaigns and elections. Ensure widest dissemination, implementation and compliance. Leaders will brief all personnel on relevant laws, regulations, and policies outlined below no later than August 14, 2020. 2. Support of Political Activities by Department of the Navy (DON) Personnel: Members of the Armed Forces should carry out the obligations of citizenship, including voting and encouraging others to vote. However, active duty members will not engage in partisan political activities. Avoid political activities that imply or appear to imply Department of Defense (DoD) sponsorship, approval or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign or cause. Examples of prohibited political activities: campaigning for a candidate, soliciting contributions, marching in a partisan parade, and wearing the uniform to a partisan event. Consult ref (b) for permissible and prohibited activities. a. Wearing of the Uniform: Active duty members, members of the reserves not on active duty, and retired members will not wear military uniforms at political campaign or election events. This prohibition is not applicable to Armed Forces color guards who perform at opening ceremonies of the national conventions of the Republican, Democratic, and other political parties formally recognized by the Federal Election Commission. b. Protests and Social Forum Participation: Be mindful of policy and guidance. As an American citizen, you may express personal opinions and experiences; however, service members should not imply any DoD or DON endorsement of such personal opinions. 3. Social Media Use: Service members enjoy broad freedom of speech and expression on social media. There are some restrictions. Refer to the Navy Social Media Handbook as a resource for appropriate conduct online: https://www.navy.mil/socialmediadocs/2019-NavySocialMediaHandbook.pdf a. In general, all federal employees and active duty members may use social media and email to express their own personal views on public issues or political candidates, much the same as they may write a letter to the editor of a newspaper. If a social media site/post identifies the member as on active duty (or if the member is otherwise reasonably identifiable as an active duty member), then the entry clearly and prominently will state that the views expressed are those of the individual only and not those of the DoD or DON. b. An active duty member may become a friend of, ?like,? or follow social media accounts of a political party or partisan candidate, campaign, group, or cause. However, active duty members will not engage in activities with respect to those social media accounts that would constitute political activity. This includes, for example, suggesting that others like, friend, or follow the political party, partisan political candidate, campaign, group, or cause, or forwarding an invitation or solicitation to others. c. On social media, service members may not: (1) Engage in any political activity while on duty or in the workplace. (2) Use official titles or positions in political activity at any time. If your social media identifies you as a member of DoD/DON, you must provide a disclaimer that the opinions are yours and those of not of the DoD/DON. (3) Suggest or ask anyone to make a political contribution at any time, including providing links to a political contribution page of any partisan group or candidate in a partisan race, or "liking," sharing, or "retweeting" a solicitation from one of those entities to a political fundraising event. (4) Post or link to partisan political articles, letters, or endorsements that solicit votes for or against a partisan political party, candidate, or cause. (5) Use contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or against the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which the service member is on duty or present. d. DON members not on active duty are not subject to the social media restrictions listed above so long as the member does not act in a manner that could reasonably create the perception or appearance of official sponsorship, approval or endorsement by the DoD or the DON. 4. Teleworking: Employees are limited in what they can do while teleworking or using government resources, to include: a. Employees may not "follow," "friend" or "like" a political party or candidate running for partisan office, and may not post links to, "share" or "retweet" comments or tweets from the social media account of a political party or candidate running for partisan. b. Employees should not wear campaign t-shirts, hats, or attire while participating in work-related video conference calls. They should also ensure any partisan materials, like campaign signs or candidate pictures, are not visible to others during the call. c. Employees may not use candidate images, campaign slogans, or political party symbols for profile pictures associated with official accounts or when communicating on official matters. 5. Voting Assistance: DON provides voting assistance via the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which works to ensure service members, their eligible family members and overseas citizens are aware of their right to vote and have tools and resources to successfully do so ? from anywhere in the world. DON also provides voting assistance officers at the unit level to facilitate in -person assistance when required. 6. This message, together with references (a) through (d), provides comprehensive guidance on policies for election year support. Reference (a), the Department of Defense (DoD) election year public affairs policy guidance (PAG) is available through your respective Public Affairs Officer and posted at: https://portal.secnav.navy.mil/orgs/CHINFO/services/SitePages/Policy.aspx. 7. Released by Mr. Andrew S. Haeuptle, Director, Navy Staff.// BT #0001 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//