Legal Definitions - Hatch Act

The Hatch Act is a law that was created in 1939 to prevent federal employees from participating in political campaigns and to limit the amount of money individuals can donate to political campaigns.

For example, if you work for the government, you cannot use your position to support a particular political candidate or party. You also cannot ask your coworkers to donate money to a political campaign.

The Hatch Act was created because it was discovered that some government officials were using their positions to help a particular political party. This is not fair because government employees should be neutral and not show favoritism towards any political party.