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# No federal law gives you time off to vote, but your state might.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/time-off-to-vote-state-laws-2026/
- Published: 2026-10-21T22:01:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T22:01:38.000Z
- Description: Election Day is Nov. 3. Here's what California, New York, Texas, Illinois and other states require, and how to ask your boss now.
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Advice & Opinion, Politics

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3\. Plenty of shifts run from before the polls open until after they close. So, can your boss make you choose between a paycheck and a ballot?

Under federal law, mostly yes. Congress never passed a law guaranteeing time off to vote. As CNN [put it](https://abc17news.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2024/10/25/voting-during-the-workday-here-are-the-states-where-employers-must-give-you-time-off-to-do-so/?ref=workersrights.news), "There is currently no federal law requiring organizations to give their employees time off to vote during working hours." The [Center for American Progress](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-state-of-voting-leave/?ref=workersrights.news) counts 20 states plus D.C. that guarantee paid voting leave, and eight more that require unpaid time or a schedule change. Your rights depend on where you work. Welcome to America.

### The big states, in the statutes' own words

**California.** If you don't have enough time outside work to vote in a statewide election, you can take off enough working time to vote, and up to two hours of it is paid. Under [Elections Code § 14000](https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-elec/division-14/chapter-1/section-14000?ref=workersrights.news), the time comes at the start or end of your shift unless you and your employer agree otherwise, and you must give "at least two working days' notice." Your employer also has to post a notice of these rights at work at least 10 days before the election under [§ 14001](https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-elec/division-14/chapter-1/section-14001?ref=workersrights.news).

**New York.** [Election Law § 3-110](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ELN/3-110?ref=workersrights.news) gives you time off to vote, "not more than two hours of which shall be without loss of pay." If you already have four consecutive free hours before or after your shift while polls are open, the law says you have enough time. Notice is due "not more than ten nor less than two working days before the day of the election." For a Monday-to-Friday worker, that window is open right now.

**Texas.** It is a Class C misdemeanor under [Election Code § 276.004](https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/election-code/title-16/chapter-276/section-276-004?ref=workersrights.news) for a boss to refuse to let you leave to vote, or to dock your wages or benefits for it, on Election Day or during early voting. The exception: if the polls are open for two consecutive hours outside your working hours, the boss is off the hook.

**Illinois.** [10 ILCS 5/17-15](https://lig.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/001000050K17-15.htm?ref=workersrights.news) gives you two hours off between the opening and closing of the polls, and bars any "penalty, including a reduction in compensation." You must ask before Election Day, and your employer can pick the hours.

**Ohio.** [R.C. 3599.06](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3599.06?ref=workersrights.news) bars employers from firing or threatening to fire you "for taking a reasonable amount of time to vote." The section doesn't say the time is paid. Violators face a fine of $50 to $500.

**Arizona.** If you have less than three consecutive hours between the polls opening and your shift, or between your shift and the polls closing, [A.R.S. § 16-402](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/16/00402.htm?ref=workersrights.news) lets you take enough time to make three hours, without losing pay. Ask before Election Day. Violations are a class 2 misdemeanor.

**Minnesota.** [Minn. Stat. § 204C.04](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/204C.04?ref=workersrights.news) lets you leave for as long as it takes to "appear at the employee's polling place," vote, and get back, with no "penalty or deduction from salary or wages." It covers early in-person voting too, and violating it is a misdemeanor.

Florida and Pennsylvania, two of the five largest states, appear on neither the CAP list nor the CNN list of states with voting-leave laws.

### Do this before Nov. 3

1. **Look up your state's rule.** Not listed above? Ask your secretary of state's office.
2. **Ask in writing, now.** Several of these laws require advance notice, and an email creates a timestamp. Something like: "Under \[your state's statute\], I'm requesting time off on Nov. 3 to vote, at the start of my shift." Keep a copy.
3. **Skip the fight if you can.** Early voting and mail voting avoid the shift problem entirely. Find your options at [vote.gov](https://vote.gov/?ref=workersrights.news), and [check your registration](https://www.workersrights.news/check-voter-registration-before-nov-3/) while you're at it.
4. **Check your union contract.** A collective bargaining agreement can give you more than the statute does.

### If your boss says no, or worse

Write down who said what and when, then report it to your state's labor department, secretary of state, or attorney general. In Texas, Arizona, and Minnesota, refusing or punishing a voter is a crime by statute, so you can also call local police or the district attorney.

Your boss also doesn't get a say in who you vote for. Under federal law, [18 U.S.C. § 594](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/594?ref=workersrights.news), anyone who "intimidates, threatens, coerces" a person to interfere with their right "to vote as he may choose" in a federal election faces up to a year in prison. Every House seat is on the ballot Nov. 3, so that law applies. Ohio's statute also bars employers from threatening "injury, harm, or loss" to steer your vote.

A boss who threatens your job over your vote is betting you don't know the law. Now you do. Send the email today.

### Sources

- [Elections Code § 14000](https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-elec/division-14/chapter-1/section-14000?ref=workersrights.news), California (via Justia)
- [Elections Code § 14001](https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-elec/division-14/chapter-1/section-14001?ref=workersrights.news), California (via Justia)
- [Election Law § 3-110](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ELN/3-110?ref=workersrights.news), New York State Senate
- [Election Code § 276.004](https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/election-code/title-16/chapter-276/section-276-004?ref=workersrights.news), Texas (via Justia)
- [10 ILCS 5/17-15](https://lig.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/001000050K17-15.htm?ref=workersrights.news), Illinois General Assembly
- [R.C. 3599.06](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3599.06?ref=workersrights.news), Ohio Laws
- [A.R.S. § 16-402](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/16/00402.htm?ref=workersrights.news), Arizona Legislature
- [Minn. Stat. § 204C.04](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/204C.04?ref=workersrights.news), Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- [18 U.S.C. § 594](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/594?ref=workersrights.news), Cornell Legal Information Institute
- [The State of Voting Leave](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-state-of-voting-leave/?ref=workersrights.news), Center for American Progress
- [Voting during the workday? Here are the states where employers must give you time off to do so](https://abc17news.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2024/10/25/voting-during-the-workday-here-are-the-states-where-employers-must-give-you-time-off-to-do-so/?ref=workersrights.news), CNN (via ABC 17 News)
- [Election Day 2024: Time off to vote](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/election-day-2024-time-off-to-vote-state-law-employers?ref=workersrights.news), CBS News
- [Vote.gov](https://vote.gov/?ref=workersrights.news), U.S. Election Assistance Commission / GSA