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Time off work for voting
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Some states require employers to allow voters time off from working to cast a ballot. As of September 2025, 28 states and the District of Columbia required employers to grant employees time off to vote.
Within these 28 states, policies varied as to whether that time off must be paid and how much notice must be given.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia require the time off to be paid, while seven states require it to be unpaid. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia require workers to request the time off on or before Election Day, while ten states have no request requirement.
Some states restrict which types of voters can request time off. Twenty-one states require time off be available only to workers who do not have sufficient time outside of their shift to vote, while six states and the District of Columbia have no such restriction. Massachusetts limits the time off requirement to workers in certain industries.
Time off work for voting by state
| States that require employers to grant employees time off to vote | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Time off | Exceptions | Paid or unpaid | Advance notice requirement | Citation |
| Alabama | Yes (1 hour) | "[If] the hours of work of the employee commence at least two hours after the opening of the polls or end at least one hour prior to the closing of the polls, then the time off for voting as provided in this section shall not be available." | Unpaid | Yes ("reasonable notice") | Alabama Code § 17-1-5 |
| Alaska | Yes (not specified) | "An employee who has two consecutive hours in which to vote, either between the opening of the polls and the beginning of the employee's regular working shift, or between the end of that regular working shift and the close of the polls, is considered to have sufficient time outside of working hours within which to vote." | Paid | No | Alaska Stat. § 15.56.100 |
| Arizona | Yes (as much time at the beginning or end of the shift as allows for three consecutive non-working hours while polls are open) | Does not apply if polls are open three consecutive hours before or after the regular shift. | Paid | Yes (before election day) | Arizona Rev. Stat. § 16-402 |
| Arkansas | Yes (not specified)[1] | Unpaid | No | Arkansas Code Ann. § 7-1-102 | |
| California | Yes (2 hours) | Applies "[i]f a voter does not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote at a statewide election[.] ... The time off for voting shall be only at the beginning or end of the regular working shift, whichever allows the most free time for voting and the least time off from the regular working shift, unless otherwise mutually agreed." | Paid | Yes (2 working days) | California Election Code § 14000 |
| Colorado | Yes (2 hours) | "This section shall not apply to any person whose hours of employment on the day of the election are such that there are three or more hours between the time of opening and the time of closing of the polls during which the elector is not required to be on the job." | Paid | Yes (before election day) | Colorado Rev. Stat. § 1-7-102 |
| Connecticut | No | ||||
| Delaware | No[2] | ||||
| District of Columbia | Yes (2 hours) | Paid | Yes ("reasonable time in advance") | Code of the District of Columbia § 1–1001.07a | |
| Florida | No[3] | ||||
| Georgia | Yes (2 hours) | Unpaid | Yes ("reasonable notice") | Georgia Code Ann. § 21-2-404 | |
| Hawaii | No[4] | ||||
| Idaho | No | ||||
| Illinois | Yes (2 hours) | Applies "if the employee's working hours begin less than 2 hours after the opening of the polls and end less than 2 hours before the closing of the polls." | Paid[5] | Yes (before election day) | 10 Illinois Comp. Stat. § 5/17-15 |
| Indiana | No | ||||
| Iowa | Yes (as much time at the beginning or end of the shift as allows for two consecutive non-working hours while polls are open) | Applies if the employee "does not have two consecutive hours in the period between the time of the opening and the time of the closing of the polls during which the person is not required to be present at work for an employer." | Paid | Yes (in writing before the day of the election) | Iowa Code § 49.109 |
| Kansas | Yes (2 hours) | "[I]f the polls are open before commencing work or after terminating work but the period of time the polls are so open is less than two (2) consecutive hours, he shall only be entitled to absent himself from such service or employment for such a period of time which, when added to the period of time the polls are so open, will not exceed two hours." | Paid | No | Kansas Stat. Ann. § 25-418 |
| Kentucky | Yes (4 hours) | Unpaid | Yes (before election day) | Kentucky Rev. Stat. Ann. § 118.035 | |
| Louisiana | No | ||||
| Maine | No | ||||
| Maryland | Yes (2 hours) | Applies "if the employee does not have 2 hours of continuous off-duty during the time that the polls are open." | Paid | No | Maryland Election Law § 10-315 |
| Massachusetts | Yes (2 hours) | Applies only to "manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile" employees. Limited to "the period of two hours after the opening of the polls." | Unpaid | Yes (not specified) | Massachusetts Gen. Laws ch. 149, §178 |
| Michigan | No | ||||
| Minnesota | Yes ("time necessary") | Paid | No | Minnesota Stat. § 204C.04 | |
| Mississippi | No[6] | ||||
| Missouri | Yes (3 hours) | "[T]his section shall not apply to a voter on the day of election if there are three successive hours while the polls are open in which he is not in the service of his employer." | Paid | Yes (before election day) | Missouri Rev. Stat. § 115.639 |
| Montana | No | ||||
| Nebraska | Yes (as much time as allows for two consecutive non-working hours while polls are open) | Applies to "[a]ny registered voter who does not have two consecutive hours in the period between the time of the opening and closing of the polls during which he or she is not required to be present at work." | Paid | Yes ("prior to or on election day") | Nebraska Rev. Stat. § 32-922 |
| Nevada | Yes (up to 3 hours; contingent on distance from polling place) | Applies "if it is impracticable for the voter to vote before or after his or her hours of employment." | Paid | Yes (before election day) | Nevada Rev. Stat. Ann § 293.463 |
| New Hampshire | No | ||||
| New Jersey | No | ||||
| New Mexico | Yes (2 hours) | "[Does] not apply to an employee whose work day begins more than two hours subsequent to the time of opening the polls, or ends more than three hours prior to the time of closing the polls." | Paid | No | New Mexico Stat. Ann. § 1-12-42 |
| New York | Yes (2 hours) | Applies if an employee "does not have sufficient time [four consecutive hours] outside of his or her scheduled working hours, within which to vote on any day at which he or she may vote." The employee "shall be allowed time off for voting only at the beginning or end of his or her working shift ... unless otherwise mutually agreed." | Paid | Yes (between 10 and 2 working days before the election) | New York Elec. Law § 3-110 |
| North Carolina | No | ||||
| North Dakota[7] | No | ||||
| Ohio | Yes ("reasonable amount of time") | Unpaid[8] | No | Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3599.06 | |
| Oklahoma | Yes (2 hours) | "This section shall not apply to an employee whose work day begins three (3) hours or more subsequent to the time of opening of the polls, or ends three (3) hours or more prior to the time of closing the polls. The employer may change the work hours to allow such three (3) hours before the beginning of work or after the work hour." | Paid | Yes (3 days) | 26 Oklahoma St. Ann. § 7-101 |
| Oregon | No[4] | ||||
| Pennsylvania | No | ||||
| Rhode Island | No | ||||
| South Carolina | No | ||||
| South Dakota | Yes (2 hours) | Applies if the employee "does not have a period of two consecutive hours during the time the polls are open during which he is not required to be present at his work or place of employment." | Paid | No | South Dakota Codified Laws Ann. § 12-3-5 |
| Tennessee | Yes (3 hours) | "If the tour of duty of an employee begins three (3) or more hours after the opening of the polls or ends three (3) or more hours before the closing of the polls of the county where the employee is a resident, the employee may not take time off under this section." | Paid | Yes (noon the day before the election) | Tennessee Code Ann. § 2-1-106 |
| Texas | Yes (not specified) | "It is an exception to the application of this section that the person's conduct occurs in connection with an election in which the polls are open on election day or while early voting is in progress for voting for two consecutive hours outside of the voter's working hours." | Paid | No | Texas Elec. Code § 276.004 |
| Utah | Yes (2 hours) | "This section does not apply to an employee who has three or more hours between the time polls open and close during which the employee is not employed on the job." | Paid | Yes (before election day) | Utah Code Ann. § 20A-3a-105 |
| Vermont | No[4] | ||||
| Virginia | No | ||||
| Washington | No[4] | ||||
| West Virginia | Yes (3 hours) | "[A]ny employee, who has three or more hours of his own time away from his work or place of employment at any time between the hours of the opening and the closing of the polls on election day and who fails or neglects to vote or elects not to vote during such free time away from his work or employment, may be subject to wage or salary deductions for the time actually absent from his work or employment for voting in such election." | Paid | Yes (in writing, 3 days) | West Virginia Code § 3-1-42 |
| Wisconsin | Yes (3 hours) | Unpaid | Yes (before election day) | Wisconsin Stat. Ann. § 6.76 | |
| Wyoming | Yes (1 hour) | "This section shall not apply to an employee who has three (3) or more consecutive nonworking hours during the time the polls are open." | Paid | No | Wyoming Stat. § 22-2-111 |
The table below lists bills related to time off work for voting introduced during (or carried over to) each state's regular legislative session this year. The following information is included for each bill:
- State
- Bill number
- Official bill name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Sponsor party
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by state and then by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Arkansas Code Ann. § 7-1-102: "Each employer in the state shall schedule the work hours of employees on election days so that each employee will have an opportunity to exercise the right of franchise."
- ↑ 15 Delaware Code § 5162: "If any person, or corporation existing or doing business in this State, hinders, controls, coerces or intimidates or attempts to hinder, control, coerce or intimidate any qualified elector of this State from or in the exercise of the elector’s right to vote at any general, special or municipal election held under the laws of this State, by means of bribery or by threats of depriving such elector of employment or occupation, absolutely or contingently, directly or indirectly, every elector so aggrieved may, in a civil action brought for that purpose, sue for and recover from the person or corporation so offending the sum of $500."
- ↑ Florida Statutes § 104.081: It is unlawful for any person having one or more persons in his or her service as employees to discharge or threaten to discharge any employee in his or her service for voting or not voting in any election, state, county, or municipal, for any candidate or measure submitted to a vote of the people. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony of the third degree.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 All-mail voting
- ↑ Not specified for primaries. (Illinois Comp. Stat. § 5/7-42).
- ↑ Mississippi Code Ann. § 79-1-9: "Any corporation doing business in this state shall be liable to a penalty of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) for every unlawful interference with the social, civil, or political rights of any of its agents or employees, and the same may be recovered by suit, to be brought by the injured party."
- ↑ North Dakota Century Code 16.1-01-02.1: [E]mployers are encouraged to establish a program to grant an employee who is a qualified voter to be absent from the employee's employment for the purpose of voting when an employee's regular work schedule conflicts with voting during time when polls are open.
- ↑ Pay may not be withheld from salaried employees.
