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Federal employees get time off to vote, staff polling locations

OPM Director Kiran Ahuja

“Today’s guidance advances fundamental goals of the Biden-Harris Administration: to promote democracy, reduce barriers to voting for federal employees, and further position the federal government as a model employer for other employers to follow," said OPM Director Kiran Ahuja.

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David Meyers
By David MeyersMar 24, 2022
David Meyers

David Meyers is the Executive Editor of The Fulcrum. Before launching The Fulcrum, David spent more than two decades at CQ Roll Call, a leading publisher of political news and information. During his time there, David served as managing editor of Roll Call (“the newspaper of Capitol Hill”) and as managing editor of member information and research, which included co-editing the definitive biographical directory of Congress, “Politics in America.” David went on to lead all of CQ Roll Call’s congressional research teams as vice president of research and content development before shifting to a revenue and strategy role as vice president of business operations for Roll Call, working with the advertising and editorial teams to develop new revenue models and expand the company’s events business. David lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife, two daughters and rottweiler. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a past president of the Tufts University Alumni Association. He is also a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which works to celebrate and advance the role of women and minorities in the media. David currently serves on the board of directors for Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station.

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The central human resources agency for the federal government announced new rules on Thursday providing greater flexibility for government employees to vote and work as nonpartisan election staff.

Previously, federal employees were only granted administrative leave to vote on Election Day, with a few exceptions for early voting. But under new guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management, federal employees will be able to vote during any time the polls are open for federal, state, local, tribal or territorial elections, including primaries, without losing pay.

In addition, the new guidance extends the leave options for federal employees who want to serve as nonpartisan poll workers or observers.

“The functioning of our democracy and protecting the right to vote are core American ideals,” said OPM Director Kiran Ahuja. “Today’s guidance advances fundamental goals of the Biden-Harris Administration: to promote democracy, reduce barriers to voting for federal employees, and further position the federal government as a model employer for other employers to follow. OPM is proud to help lead this effort.”

In March 2021, President Biden issued an executive order directing federal agencies to make it easier for people to vote, including government employees.

Under the new rules, federal employees may use up to four hours of administrative leave to vote on Election Day or during the early voting period for each general and primary election level, as well as special congressional elections.

Employees may use a maximum of four hours of administrative leave over the course of the year to work as nonpartisan election staff or observers. The previous guidance allowed for this in 2020, but not beyond.

The OPM guidance only applies to federal employees. Some advocates for making it easier to vote have called upon Congress to make Election Day a federal holiday, and such a provision is included in the stalled Freedom to Vote Act. Approximately one-third of states have some variation of an election holiday.

Time to Vote, a coalition of businesses that pledge to provide opportunities for employees to vote (not always by granting paid time off) has about 2,000 members, including Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Visa.

Other organizations, like Business for America, encourage corporations to practice civic responsibility by granting time off to vote, among other solutions.


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