Please follow these steps to submit your email request. Please make sure you have read and understood the following instructions before continuing:
Recipient group: Emails or mailings will be sent to all voters in the candidate’s election pool of voters unless otherwise directed. Requests may also be directed to one of the following narrower pools of voters which are readily programmable in the database:
- All of the members of a specific sub-local (Please note: Candidates may not target narrower segments of a sub-local. DHS Sub-local 200 may only be targeted in its entirety.)
- All union officers (statewide and sub-local officers)
- All CAPE contributors
- People who voted in the most recently held union election
Please note that requests to target more than two narrower pools of voters in an email must be submitted as two separate requests.
For Email Requests: For Email Requests: By filling out and submitting the Email Request Form, the Candidate asks that an email message be sent out by the union on their behalf, in accordance with the email procedure, and the Candidate acknowledges acceptance of this procedure.
Pre-payment required: The candidate email will not be sent until the online form is completely and properly filled out and pre-payment of $41.00 has been processed online. When the information is complete, and the pre-payment has been processed, the form will be time-stamped and be placed in the queue for processing.
Turnaround time: Requests will be processed in the order in which they are submitted. Requests for specific timing, delayed releases, or repeated releases cannot be honored. A 3-5 work-day turn-around time (not including any days SEIU Local 503 is closed for holidays) is the target. The candidate will be sent a copy of their requested email at the time of delivery.
Preparing Candidate Emails: Recipients will see the following:
From: (Candidate Name) via SEIU 503 elections
Sent: (Date)
To: (Recipient name)
Subject: [Candidate Name] (email subject provided by candidate)
Language added to all messages: Boilerplate Disclaimer, Opt-out, Home Email, and Confidentiality language is added to the email message (see below). Other than those additions, message content or formatting will not be changed from what is submitted by the Candidate. Minimal changes in formatting may occur due to software incompatibility between the sender and recipient; which the Union cannot predict or fix.
Recipient addresses: In accordance with law, candidate messages will be sent only to home email addresses. Member home email fields in our database are “cleansed” as much as possible of Employer email addresses.
Cost to candidate: Candidates will be charged at cost – in this case mostly programming costs (at $41/hour), with a minimum of one-hour set-up time per request. Payment is due before the email message can be sent. Costs, if any, above the minimum amount will be invoiced to the candidate and must be paid before additional message requests will be honored.
Formatting: SEIU 503 places no restrictions on file size, formatting, or content. However, many email systems filter out overly large, heavily formatted, or otherwise unusual emails as spam. Differences between sender and receiver software may result in slight modifications to the formatting of your message. Candidates must submit their message as an attached file in Rich Text Format/RTF, .TXT, or Microsoft Word .DOC or .DOCX file formats. PDFs will not be accepted. Customized formatting (e.g. bolding, italics, underlining, font colors) is not retained when input into the email system. Candidates should avoid customized formatting or understand that it may not be included in the message to voters. SEIU Local 503 will not take any steps to edit the formatting of any candidate’s message. Candidates may include links to other resources in their message, but may not send attached files (such as a PDF flyer). SEIU 503 is not responsible for testing web links or ensuring that embedded link formatting is maintained.
Opt out: Recipients may opt out of receiving candidate emails. (See Opt-Out Instructions, below.)
Replies: SEIU 503 will not be responsible for routing replies to candidates: if candidates wish to receive replies, they must specify how to reply in the body of their message. The dummy address in the “From” line will send an automated reply stating that it is NOT an official candidate email address and is NOT being checked or forwarded, and will request they contact the candidate via other means.
This DISCLAIMER will be inserted at the
beginning of all candidate emails sent out by SEIU Local 503:
ATTENTION: As a democratic, member-run organization, our union periodically holds elections for internal positions, such as the sub-local officers. When those elections occur, candidates for office have the right to contact members and “campaign” for office. Please read the disclaimer and find the candidate message below.
DISCLAIMER: This e-mail contains campaign materials from a candidate for elective office within SEIU Local 503. Local 503 is distributing this campaign material solely because of its obligation under Federal labor law to do so -- for this candidate, or any other candidate for elective office, who requests such a distribution. By distributing this material, SEIU Local 503 does not endorse this, or any other, candidate for office and is not responsible for any of the content of any candidate’s message. All materials contained in the candidate’s message were prepared by, and are solely the responsibility of, the candidate. Under applicable law, Local 503 is precluded from editing, altering or otherwise interfering with the candidate’s message.
PRIVACY PROTECTIONS: In keeping with our SEIU 503 Member Information Confidentiality Policy, candidates are not provided with members’ e-mail addresses. Instead, candidates are required to submit their campaign materials to Local 503 for distribution in their unedited and unaltered form.
The following paragraphs will be included
at the end of all candidate emails sent out by SEIU Local 503:
OPT OUT OPTION: If you do not want to receive any further email from this (or any other) candidate, please click the link at the bottom of this message to unsubscribe:
HOME E-MAIL ONLY: SEIU Local 503 has used its best efforts to purge from this distribution all “Employer mail” addresses. If, however, you have received this e-mail at an e-mail address that is not your own personal e-mail address but is, instead, an “Employer” e-mail address, please notify SEIU 503 by forwarding this email to communications@seiu503.org with the words “Employer email” in the subject line.
RESPONDING TO CANDIDATES: If you wish to respond to an e-mail you have received from any candidate, please note that SEIU Local 503 will not forward that response to the candidate. Providing a means of response is solely the responsibility of the candidate.
