Civic Duty - Voting and Serving as Poll Workers

Tuesday, November 5, 2024, is the General Election and all state employees are encouraged to vote. 

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-402, relative to employee absence from employment for purpose of voting, and State Personnel System Rule R2-5A-B606, Civic Duty Leave, state employees may receive paid leave in order to exercise their voting privileges under the following conditions:

• There are less than three consecutive hours between the opening of the polls and the beginning of the employee’s regular work shift; OR
• There are less than three consecutive hours between the end of the employee’s regular work shift and the closing of the polls

AND

• The employee requests the leave prior to the day of the election.

The polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.  To ensure that all state government employees have an opportunity to vote, an employee may be absent to vote for a length of time to satisfy the 3-hour time provision.  

Examples:

1. An employee who works a standard 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. shift has less than three consecutive hours from the opening of the polls (6:00 a.m.) and the beginning of the employee’s work shift (8:00 a.m.) or the end of the employee’s shift (5:00 p.m.) and the closing of the polls (7:00 p.m.). This employee could be eligible for one hour of civic duty leave to provide three consecutive hours for voting.
2. An employee who works from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. would not be eligible for any civic duty leave since there are three consecutive hours from the end of the employee’s work shift (4:00 p.m.) and the closing of the polls (7:00 p.m.).

Please contact your agency management to coordinate the time of your absence to allow for normal operations in your work unit while you are fulfilling your civic duty. Please note that, in order to ensure the agency’s services are maintained, agency management may specify the hours during which an employee may be absent.

If you have any questions regarding civic duty leave, please contact your agency Human Resources office for assistance.

Additionally, the State has a City Duty Leave - Serving at Voting Locations Policy, which provides paid leave to employees during regularly scheduled work hours for the employee to vote or serve as a voting location worker. See your Human Resources Office for more details.