Arkansas doesn't mandate paid voting leave for employees
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With fewer than 70 days until Election Day, voters nationwide will soon be making plans to cast their ballots — but some may face a routine barrier: work.
Why it matters: No federal law mandates that employees be granted time off to vote, leaving the issue of paid voting leave up to states or individual companies.
Fewer than half of U.S. states require employers to provide paid time off to vote.
Zoom in: Arkansas law requires employers to schedule shifts on election days so that each employee has the opportunity to vote.
- Employers can be fined $25 to $250 if convicted of failure to comply.
Between the lines: State lawmakers in 2022 adopted four new voter laws that critics call restrictive, including: requiring signatures, moving the mail-in ballot deadlines earlier, and prohibiting anyone from standing within 100 feet of a polling place.
Flashback: State Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) introduced a bill in the 94th General Assembly in 2023 to require paid leave for voting, but the measure failed in committee.
What they're saying: "We believe that no voters should have to choose between their paycheck and their right to vote," said Tyler Hagenbuch, Vote.org's head of strategic partnerships.
- "We want to offer ... flexibility instead of nuance," he said. "Whereas state laws are nuanced and complicated, we want something that is more voter friendly."
- While every store can't close its doors on Election Day, he noted, companies can offer time off for voters to participate in early voting or drop off mail-in ballots.
Efforts have been made to pass a national law mandating paid voting leave in federal elections, like the Time Off to Vote Act sponsored by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), which proposed a minimum of two consecutive hours of paid leave "in order to vote, return in person a ballot that was received in the mail or perform other voting-related activity."
- Additionally, lawmakers have introduced legislation to make Election Day a federal holiday — an effort Vote.org supports.
The bottom line: "Not all voters are created equal, and not every voter has the same circumstance," Hagenbuch said. "So, just as much as those state laws vary, every voter's circumstance varies."
Go deeper: Inside Trump's stunning flip-flop on early voting