§ 3-304 — Board employees; conflicts of interest

§ 3-304. Board employees; conflicts of interest. 1. No board of\nelections employee shall engage in or participate in any trade or\nbusiness which creates, or may tend to create, an actual or potential\nconflict of interest. No board of elections employee shall maintain a\ndirect financial interest in or be employed by a vendor or a company\nproviding services to a candidate who has an election overseen by such\nemployee's office, including but not limited to, printing companies,\nelection consulting companies, direct mail companies and digital\nmarketing companies. No board of elections employee shall maintain a\ndirect financial interest in or be employed by a vendor or company that\nsells to the board voting machines, electronic poll books, printers or\nother technical or electronic equipment. A violation of any of the\nprovisions of this subdivision shall be cause for discipline by the\nboard of elections, including removal of the board of elections\nemployee.\n 2. No board of elections employee shall remain on the board of\nelections payroll while also a candidate for an office who has an\nelection overseen by the board at which they are employed, without prior\nauthorization by a majority vote of the board of elections commissioners\nand in accordance with the rules and regulations of the state board.\n (a) The state board shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to\nthe circumstances that may permit a board of elections to authorize an\nemployee who is also a candidate for an office who has an election\noverseen by the board at which they are employed to remain employed,\nprovided that such employee be restricted from working on matters\ndirectly related to the election in the jurisdiction in which the\nemployee is a candidate and any other restrictions set forth by state\nboard rules and regulations.\n (b) For the purposes of this article, a board of elections employee\nshall be deemed a candidate for elective office upon the filing of a\ndesignating or nominating petition for such office or, where nominations\nfor such office are made other than by petition, upon acceptance of a\nnomination. Such employee may remain in "leave without pay" status until\nsuch time as their candidacy shall cease, or upon the day following the\ncertification of election results for such office, whichever comes\nfirst.\n (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, when there are no\nprimary elections for the office being sought by a candidate that is\nemployed by the board of elections, that candidate may remain on the\nboard of elections payroll for no more than ninety days prior to a\ngeneral election.\n (d) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to unpaid party\npositions.\n 3. It shall not be considered a conflict of interest for a board of\nelections employee who is a member of a county committee as defined in\nsection 2-104 of this chapter, a district leader as outlined in section\n2-110 of this chapter, a member of the state committee as described in\nsection 2-102 of this chapter, a delegate or an alternate delegate to\njudicial district nominating conventions as described in section 6-124\nof this chapter, or a delegate or an alternate delegate to national\nparty conventions as described in section 2-122 of this chapter who, as\npart of their duties in said party position, endorses or supports a\ncandidate for a party position or public office.\n