Statewide Officer (SWO) and Board of Directors (BOD) Election Guidelines
Distribution of Campaign Literature and Campaigning
a) The Union will comply with reasonable requests by candidates to distribute campaign literature to eligible voters at the candidate’s expense. All candidates will be treated equally with respect to the cost of distributing campaign materials.
b) Candidates have the right to request a mailing(s) or emailing(s) (sorted for statewide, regional, and/or local membership). Each candidate will be charged actual cost for mailing or email set-up and processing. Candidates must pre-pay the Union for email(s). (Email blasts are generally $51.00 per email blast.) See SWO Candidate Mail and Email Procedure for more details. Candidates may purchase extra copies of the candidate statements that are mailed with the ballots (Voter’s Guide) at cost.
c) Candidates may distribute campaign literature at a union event, conference or meeting so long as the distribution does not interfere with the conduct of the conference. Campaign literature cannot be placed on the registration table of the event and cannot be included in the event materials.
d) Candidates may appear at union functions or events and speak to the members present so long as other candidates were given the opportunity to attend the function and speak.
For Statewide Officer Candidates Only: All Statewide Officer candidates are invited to present one piece of campaign literature to be distributed on the Council floor to in-person registrants on a day and time designated by the General Council Rules Committee. Candidates must have their literature, no larger than a legal-size piece of paper, delivered to the Information Desk at General Council at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Please contact elections@seiu503.org by August 21, 2026, for drop-off instructions if you wish to have campaign literature distributed or to inquire for the number of registrants. The General Council pages shall distribute the literature on the floor (each delegate position at each table) before delegates return to session, and candidates may not participate in that distribution. This shall be the only opportunity for candidates to have their materials distributed on the Council floor.
All Statewide Officer Candidates shall be invited to submit a campaign video up to five (5) minutes in length. Videos must be submitted no later than July 27, 2026 at 11:59 pm and will be published online at seiu503.org/weare503/. Candidates will receive additional instructions with a web address where the video may be recorded using Pipe Video Recorder. Candidates may not submit video files in another format. Videos from all candidates will be published simultaneously on or before August 10, 2026.
Statewide Officer candidates may be invited to address the General Council delegates at the Oregon Convention Center on a date and time designated during Council between August 20-23, 2026. If candidate speeches are included on the General Council agenda, candidates will be emailed the date and time of speeches and may submit for mileage reimbursement and may submit for lodging, if they qualify under the Administrative Policies and Procedures, by August 1, 2026. (Note: Candidates will be more likely to receive lodging in the hotel of the event if requests are submitted by July 15, 2026. Requests submitted between July 16-Aug. 1 after the event registration deadline may not be in the same hotel dependent on availability. Candidates will be notified of the amount of time candidates are permitted to speak, which will be determined by the elections committee based on the total number of candidates. If a candidate does not appear for a speech but has submitted a campaign video, their video will be played instead. Candidates will come to the podium in the following order of office: Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President, President, and Executive Director. The order of candidates shall be selected at random immediately prior to candidate speeches. The candidate speech program shall be moderated by a non-candidate.
Inspection of Membership Lists
Candidates shall have the right, once within a thirty (30) day period prior to the election, to inspect a list containing the names and addresses of all Union members eligible to vote in the election for which the individual is a candidate. Candidates do not have the right to copy or photograph the membership list. The list(s) shall be available for inspection only at the Union’s Salem, OR, headquarters office during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Please contact elections@seiu503.org if you wish to schedule an appointment. Bylaws XV Elections, Section 3.
Use of Union or Employer Funds or Facilities
A union or employer may not contribute money or anything of value (such as the use of facilities, equipment or supplies) to promote the candidacy of any candidate in a union officer election. The prohibition against the use of union or employer funds applies to any union and any employer, not just to SEIU Local 503, OPEU or to the employers with whom SEIU Local 503, OPEU has collective bargaining agreements. The use of union or employer facilities or funds is a violation even if union officials or the employer do not know about or approve of the use and even if the amount is small.
Campaigning by Staff
Staff who are members of SEIU Local 503, OPEU may campaign on behalf of candidates if their activities do not occur during paid time or during any hours in which they are assigned to, or working on, Union business of any kind. Current officers and union employees should take vacation time or a leave of absence if they are going to campaign during work hours.
Observers
In mail ballot elections, candidates may have observers present when the ballot envelopes are stuffed, labeled and mailed and during regular visits to the post office to pick up and re-mail ballot packages which were returned undelivered. Observers need not be members of the union. Please contact elections@seiu503.org by September 23, 2026, if you wish to observe to ensure that you receive instructions timely prior to the count.
Contribution and Expenditure Reports
All SWO candidates must file Contribution and Expenditure Reports (C&E Reports) called for in Bylaws Article XV, Section 5. The first report shall be filed no later than one week prior to the mailing of ballots and the second report shall be filed no later than two (2) weeks after the deadline for receipt of ballots. Reports should be filed online at: SEIU Local 503 2026 SWO/BOD Election Campaign Contributions & Expenditures (C&E) Report
Challenges
A challenge to a covered election must be filed within fifteen (15) days of publication of the election(s) results and must be filed in accord with Article XV Section 4 of the Bylaws of SEIU Local 503, OPEU.
Assistance
Members may direct any election questions to elections@seiu503.org.