Here are the states that require giving employees time off to vote
More than half of states require it
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Many Americans are making preparations to vote on Tuesday in the federal midterm elections that will decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
FiveThirtyEight, an election polling and forecasting website, has the Republicans and Democrats in a "dead heat" for the Senate and the Republicans "favored" to win the House as of Thursday evening. It’s possible those forecasts could be subject to some change as the midterms creep closer.
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Whether a worker is entitled to time off to cast their ballot varies based on the state, as it has not been regulated at the federal level. However, more than half of the nation’s states have laws on the books mandating employees get voting time off of some sort.
Here are the states that require employers to give time off:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- District of Columbia
A majority of the states that do mandate voting leave specify that employees are entitled to paid time off to cast their ballots. Only a handful have provisions for unpaid time.
A poll worker speaks with a voter at the entrance to a polling station on Election Day on Nov. 2 in Miami Beach, Florida. Miami Beach voters said 'yes' to closing the bars at an earlier time. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
There are, however, stipulations in numerous states’ laws. For example, some states only require employers to provide the leave if the employee does not have a certain amount of time during polling hours to vote before or after work.
In some states, employees must give their bosses a certain amount of notice or proof that they cast their ballot. Meanwhile, some statutes let employers specify timeframes in which workers can take off for the purpose of voting.
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Here are the states that do not legally require time off for workers to vote:
- Delaware
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
Hawaii and Washington have moved to vote-by-mail for elections, so they do not have statutes requiring time off for voting.
It’s also worth noting that while North Dakota does not have a mandate for employers give, the state does have a provision "encouraging" it. The statute says, "Employers 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."
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 02: People cast their vote on Election Day at P.S. 11 Purvis J. Behan Elementary on November 02, 2021 in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn borough in New York City. New Yorkers head to the polls today to decide w … ((Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Voters looking to visit their state election office’s website can get directed to it through a webpage on USA.gov. Information about where, when and how to vote can typically be found on the website of the person’s state or local election office.
CNBC and WUSA9 reported on the state voting leave laws earlier in the week.
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