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Election Day Holidays and Paid Time Off to Vote

A common barrier for voters casting their ballots in-person or returning absentee ballots is getting time away from their jobs. There is no federal law that requires voters be provided time off to cast their ballot, so that policy choice is left up to the states. Policymakers have taken two approaches to solve this issue: making Election Day a public holiday or requiring employers to provide paid time off for voting.
United States Map
Washington New York U.S. Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Guam Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands American Samoa New Hampshire Vermont Virginia Pennsylvania New York Maine West Virginia Ohio Kentucky Indiana Michigan Illinois Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Georgia Florida Mississippi Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Iowa Minnesota Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska South Dakota North Dakota Texas 33 Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Arizona Utah Nevada Oregon California Hawaii Alaska Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland Washington D.C. New Hampshire Vermont
  • State has Election Day as a public holiday and requires employers to provide paid time off for voting (5 states)
  • State has Election Day as a public holiday but does not require employers to provide paid time off for voting (9 states)
  • State requires employers to provide paid time off for voting but does not have Election Day as a public holiday (17 states)
  • State does not have Election Day as a public holiday and does not require employers to provide paid time off for voting (19 states + D.C.)
Recommended citation: Movement Advancement Project. "Election Day Holidays and Paid Time Off to Vote." https://www.mapresearch.org/democracy-maps/election_day_holiday_paid_time_off_to_vote. Accessed 12/09/2024.

Breakdown by Population

*Note: These percentages reflect the voting-eligible population, as reported by the United States Election Project.

13%

13 % of population lives in states that have Election Day as a public holiday and require employers to provide paid time off for voting

14%

14 % of population lives in states that have Election Day as a public holiday but do not require employers to provide paid time off for voting

36%

36 % of population lives in states that require employers to provide paid time off for voting but do not have Election Day as a public holiday

37%

37 % of population lives in states that do not have Election Day as a public holiday and do not require employers to provide paid time off for voting



Data current as of 12/06/2024
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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

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