State-mandated voting leave laws are designed to give employees enough time off work to cast their ballots on election day. Not all states, however, have such laws, and requirements vary among the ones that do.
For example, most states with voting leave laws specify whether the leave should be paid, but some allow it to be unpaid. Additionally, many of these states limit the duration of the leave, whereas Alaska, Minnesota, and Nevada permit employees to take as much time as they need.
As of September 2024, 28 states and Washington D.C. guarantee time off for voting after Connecticut sunset its voting leave laws effective July 1, 2024. While the laws are similar between these states, there are some outliers and nuances. For example:
To ensure compliance and best support their workers’ rights, employers should regularly review their state’s voting time off laws.
| Jurisdiction | Time Off Details | Conditions and Exceptions |
| Alabama | Unpaid | Eligible employees are entitled to up to one hour of leave unless their shift starts at least two hours after the polls open or ends at least one hour before they close. In such cases, employers may specify the time employees take the leave. |
| Alaska | Paid (as much as needed) | Employers should offer as much paid time as required to vote. If any employee has two consecutive hours to vote (either at the beginning or end of their regular shift) when the polls are open, that window shall be considered sufficient time outside working hours to vote. |
| Arkansas | Unpaid | Employees’ work schedules on Election Day must allow them to vote. This may be unpaid. |
| Arizona | Paid (up to three hours) |
An employer must provide up to three hours of paid leave to vote. The employer may require employees to request time off before the election and specify the hours employees may be absent to vote. Paid leave isn't required if an employee has three consecutive hours available while polls are open at the beginning or end of a shift. |
| California | Paid (up to two hours) |
An employer must provide up to two hours of paid leave to vote. If the voter/employee doesn’t have sufficient time outside working hours to vote in a statewide election, they may take paid time off. Unless otherwise mutually agreed upon, the employee may take the time off at the beginning or end of a shift, whichever provides the freest time for voting and the least time off from the regular working shift. |
| Colorado | Paid (up to two hours) |
An employer must provide up to two hours of paid leave to vote. Employees who intend to vote must notify their employer before election day that they’ll take time off to vote. The employer may specify the hours the employee may be absent, but the employee may request the time off be at the beginning or end of their work shift. Paid leave isn’t required if an employee has three consecutive hours available while polls are open at the beginning or end of their shift. |
| D.C. | Paid (Up to two hours) |
Employees can take up to two hours of paid leave to vote in person, even if they’re ineligible to vote in D.C. They can use this leave to vote in person where they’re eligible to vote. Employers can designate the hours employees can take voting leave, including during early voting or at the beginning or end of their shift on Election Day. |
| Georgia | Unpaid (up to two hours) |
Employees may take up to two hours of unpaid leave to vote in any primary or election. The employee must be qualified and registered to vote. The employee must provide reasonable notice to their employer and may take leave to vote on days designated for advance in-person voting or on the day the primary/election is held. Time off for voting isn’t required if such an employee’s work hours start at least two hours after the polls open or end at least two hours before the polls close. |
| Illinois | Paid (Up to two hours) |
Voters/employees may request up to two hours of paid time off to vote between the time polls open and close on election day in a general or special election, or any election in which propositions are submitted to a popular vote. The employee must submit the leave request before election day. An employer must grant up to two hours of paid leave if the employees' working hours begin less than two hours after the polls open and end less than two hours before the polls close. The employer may specify the hours during which the employee may be absent. |
| Iowa | Paid (up to three hours) |
A voter/employee may request time off to vote if they don’t have three consecutive hours available while polls are open at the beginning or end of their shift. The employee is entitled to time off from work to vote, which, in addition to the person's non-working time, totals three consecutive hours when the polls are open. The employee must request the time off in writing before election day, and the employer may designate the time the employee may take the leave. |
| Kansas | Paid (Up to two hours) | If the polls are open before or after work ends but for less than two consecutive hours, the voter/employee is entitled to up to two hours of paid leave to vote. The employer may specify the time during the day the employee may take leave, except that the time may not be during the regular lunch period. |
| Kentucky | Unpaid | Eligible employees can take up to four hours of unpaid leave to vote or apply for an absentee ballot. Employers may designate the hours when employees can take such leave. |
| Maryland | Paid (Up to two hours) | Employers must permit a voter/employee up to two hours of paid leave on election day if the employee doesn’t have two consecutive hours off duty when the polls are open. Employees must provide their employer with proof that the employee voted or attempted to vote, which will be on a form from the State Board of Elections. |
| Massachusetts | Unpaid | Eligible employees in manufacturing, mechanical, or mercantile establishments are entitled to unpaid voting leave during the first two hours polls are open. |
| Minnesota | Paid (As much as needed) | Every employee who is eligible to vote in an election has the right to be absent from work for the time necessary to appear at the employee's polling place, cast a ballot, and return to work on the day of that election without penalty or deduction from salary or wages because of the absence. |
| Missouri | Paid (up to three hours) | A voter/employee may request time off to vote if they don’t have three consecutive hours available while polls are open at the beginning or end of their shift. The employee must request time off to vote before election day, and the employer may choose when the employee may take the leave. |
| Nebraska | Paid (Up to two* hours) | A voter/employee may request time off to vote if they don’t have two consecutive hours available while polls are open at the beginning or end of their shift. The employee must request the time off before or on election day, and the employer may designate the time the employee may take leave. |
| Nevada | Paid (as much as needed based on distance from polling place) |
If a voter/employee can't vote before or after their hours of employment, they may request paid time off to vote but must request the time off before election day. The length of time the voter may request off depends on how far apart their place of employment and polling place are.
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| New Mexico | Paid (Up to two hours) | A voter/employee may request time off to vote if they don’t have two consecutive hours available while polls are open. In such cases, the employer must provide up to two hours of paid voting leave but may specify the hours during which the vote may be absent. |
| New York | Paid (up to two hours) |
A voter/employee may request up to two hours off to vote if they don’t have four consecutive hours available while polls are open before or after their shift. The employee may take the time off at the beginning or the end of their shift, as designated by the employer, unless otherwise mutually agreed. The employee must notify their employer of the need to take time off to vote no more than ten working days (or less than two working days) before the election. Additionally, at least ten working days before every election, every employer shall conspicuously post a notice in the workplace where employees come or go to their working areas, setting forth this section's provisions. Such notice shall remain posted until the polls close on election day. |
| Ohio | Paid (Reasonable amount of time) | Eligible employees can take a reasonable amount of paid time to vote on Election Day. The Ohio Attorney General's Office advises that voting leave must be paid for salaried employees but can be unpaid for piecework, commissioned, or hourly employees. |
| Oklahoma | Paid (up to two** hours) |
Employees may request leave to vote if they have less than three hours available before or after their shift when the polls are open. The employer may also change the work hours to allow three hours before the beginning of work or after work hours. The day before election day, the employee must notify the employer verbally or in writing of their intent to take leave to vote. The employer may choose which hours the employee may take the leave, and the employee must provide proof of their voting. |
| South Dakota | Paid (Up to two hours) | A voter/employee may request up to two hours off to vote if they don’t have two consecutive hours available while polls are open, and they’re not required to be present at their place of work or employment. The employer may specify the hours during which the employee may take the leave to vote. |
| Tennessee | Paid (up to three hours) | A voter/employee may request time off to vote if they don’t have three consecutive hours available at the beginning or end of their shift when polls are open. The employee must request leave to vote before noon on the day before the election. The employer may specify the hours during which the employee may take the leave to vote. |
| Texas | Paid (At least 2 hours) |
A voter/employee can take paid time off for voting on election days unless they have at least two consecutive hours to vote outside their working hours. Such time off must be paid to the extent that it cuts into the employee's regular working hours. However, the time off doesn’t need to be paid if the two hours are available outside regular working hours. If the time off is taken during mandatory overtime, it should be paid at the rate that would’ve applied to the missed overtime. If the time off is taken during optional overtime, voluntarily requested by the employee, it doesn’t need to be paid since it’d be outside regular working hours and is time the employee voluntarily chose to spend working rather than voting. |
| Utah | Paid (up to two hours) |
A voter/employee is entitled to take paid time off for voting on election days unless the employee has at least three or more consecutive hours to vote outside of the voter's working hours. The employee must apply for the leave the day before the election day. The employer may specify the hours during which the employee may take the leave unless the employee requests it at the beginning or end of the workday. In such cases, the employer shall grant that request. |
| West Virginia | Paid (Up to three hours) |
A voter/employee may request paid time off for voting on election day if they don’t have three or more hours of their own time away from work or their place of employment during the opening and closing of the polls on election day. The employee must request time off in writing at least three days before election day. For essential government, health, hospital, transportation, and communication services, as well as production, manufacturing, and processing works requiring operating continuity, employers may (upon receipt of such written demand for voting time off) arrange and schedule time off for any and all of their employees for voting to avoid impairment or disruption of essential services and operations. Every schedule of time off for voting shall provide ample and convenient time and opportunity for each employee to cast their vote as provided herein. |
| Wisconsin | Unpaid | Eligible employees can take up to three consecutive hours of unpaid leave while the polls are open. Employers can designate the time of day for such leave. |
| Wyoming | Paid (Up to one hour) | A voter/employee may request paid time off to vote on election day if they don’t have three or more consecutive nonworking hours during the opening and closing of the polls. The employer may specify which hour, other than the lunch hour, the employee may take leave during polling hours, but the employee must vote. |
*The employee is entitled to time off from work to vote, which, in addition to the person's non-working time, totals two consecutive hours when the polls are open.
**A voter/employee may request up to two hours of paid time off to vote, or if the employee is in the county or at a distance from the voting place where more than two hours is required to attend elections, the employee shall be allowed sufficient time to vote.
