To view this on the COS website, click here [[https://conventionofstates.com/files/general-communications-guidelines-for-elections|general-communications-guidelines-for-elections]]

To download the pdf file from the COS website, click here [[https://conventionofstates.com/files/general-communications-guidelines-for-elections/download|General_Communications_Guidelines_for_Elections_(1).pdf]]


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====== General Communications Guidelines for Elections ======


Attachment: 4399/General_Communications_Guidelines_for_Elections_(1).pdf
| \\ \\ \\ \\ {{:public:cb_mirror:files_25988_pdfto001.png?nolink&918x1188|}}\\ \\  \\ \\ //v20240813 //\\ \\ ** **\\ \\ **GENERAL COMMUNICATION GUIDELINES FOR ELECTIONS **\\ \\ We strongly encourage all staff and volunteers to be active in election campaigns as private individual \\ citizens using their own resources.  As a nonprofit corporation, however, Convention of States (COS) is \\ subject to federal and state laws that uniquely regulate its communications related to candidates and \\ their campaigns.  When using COS resources (including your COS email account, your COS volunteer title, \\ the COS mailing list, COS Slack teams, COS social media pages, etc.), please follow the guidelines below. \\ Any exception to these guidelines must be approved in writing by the Legal Department. \\ \\  \\ \\ **DO**\\ \\   \\ \\ **DO NOT**\\ \\ ** **\\ \\ **Do **\\ \\ encourage volunteers to get out and vote \\ \\ //E.g. do say “make sure to get out and vote.” //\\ \\ **Do not **\\ \\ tell volunteers who to vote for \\ \\ //E.g. do not say “Re-elect our sponsor Sen. Patriot” or //\\ \\ //“Vote for the pro-COS candidate” //\\ \\ **Do **\\ \\ encourage general political activity in a \\ \\ nonpartisan manner \\ \\ //E.g. do say “make sure you get involved with //\\ \\ //candidates who support your values.”  //\\ \\ **Do not **\\ \\ encourage political activity in support \\ \\ of a particular candidate or party \\ \\ //E.g. //\\ \\ do not 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 on your //\\ \\ //personal Facebook page. //\\ \\ **Do not **\\ \\ use COS resources to support \\ \\ candidates or political parties \\ \\ //E.g. do not 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. //\\ \\ **Do not **\\ \\ mention candidates by name in COS \\ \\ communications about the election. \\ \\ //E.g. do not say “get out vote this November.  Sen. //\\ \\ //Patriot is a big supporter and he’s up for reelection.”  //\\ \\ **Do **\\ \\ provide neutral, nonpartisan information \\ \\ about the election and voting  \\ \\ //E.g. //\\ \\ do say \\ \\ //“Here’s a link to a government website with //\\ \\ //more information about the election and voting”//\\ \\  \\ \\ **Do not **\\ \\ give special treatment to particular \\ \\ candidates or parties \\ \\ //E.g. do not say “Here’s a link to Sen. Patriot’s re-//\\ \\ //election page, check it out and get involved.”//\\ \\  \\ \\ **Do **\\ \\ reach out to nonpartisan lists of like-\\ \\ minded citizens to encourage voting \\ \\ //E.g. do reach out to the COS list, or a pro-life list telling //\\ \\ //folks to go vote (but don’t tell them how to vote).//\\ \\ // //\\ \\ **Do not **\\ \\ encourage a partisan list to vote or \\ \\ ask for support of a particular political party. \\ \\ //E.g. do not reach out to a list of registered Republicans //\\ \\ //and tell them to go vote.  //\\ \\  \\ \\  \\ \\ **Questions? Please contact the Legal Department a<t >**\\ \\ [[mailto:legal@cosaction.com|**legal@cosaction.com**]]\\ \\ <.>|
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|  __Page Metadata__  ||
|Login Required to view?  |No                  |
|Created:                 |2024-08-21 23:05 GMT|
|Updated:                 |2025-08-22 03:00 GMT|
|Published:               |2024-08-21 07:00 GMT|
|Converted:               |2025-11-11 12:33 GMT|
|Change Author:           |Jakob Fay           |
|Credit Author:           |                    |