Issue Position: Norton Bill to Equalize Political Participation of D.C. Federal Employee to Equal the Rights of Regional Counterparts

Issue Position

In another step for equal treatment for the District, Norton will reintroduce a bill to give the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the authority to exempt the District from the federal Hatch Act's prohibition on federal employee participation in local partisan elections. OPM now permits participation by federal employees in political campaigns as or on behalf of an independent candidate in local partisan elections only in certain Maryland and Virginia towns near the District and in towns in which the majority of voters are federal employees. When the Hatch Act was passed in 1940, OPM's predecessor agency was given the authority to exempt federal employees living in Maryland and Virginia towns near D.C. because if federal employees in such towns had not been allowed to participate in local elections much of a town's population would have been denied the opportunity to participate in local affairs. Currently, federal employees residing in 47 Maryland jurisdictions, including Chevy Chase Village and Bethesda, 15 Virginia jurisdictions, including Alexandria, and 12 other municipalities across the United States are permitted to participate in partisan local elections. However, OPM's predecessor agency was not given the same authority for the District of Columbia, probably because D.C. did not have local elections until the Home Rule Act of 1973.

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