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Louisiana: Voting Leave Requirements

verified against the statute 2026-07-13 2 statute sources

The short answer

Louisiana has no general private-employer statute requiring time off or pay to vote. Employers with 20 or more employees generally may not bar political participation, control employees' political activities or affiliations, or use discharge threats to coerce political support; a separate provision criminalizes specified employers' discharge of a laborer for political opinions or attempts to control the laborer's vote. These protections do not create a leave duration, pay rule, request deadline, scheduling right, or posting duty.

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This is the general rule in Louisiana. Ezel applies current Louisiana law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.

Governing law	No general private-employer voting-leave statute located; related employer-coercion protections are La. R.S. 23:961-962
Eligible workers and elections	No statutory leave eligibility; § 23:961 protects employees of employers regularly employing 20 or more from specified political-control rules, and § 23:962 protects laborers against specified discharge and vote-control conduct
Outside-work-hours test	None; Louisiana states no general private-employer voting-leave entitlement
Time-off amount	None required by §§ 23:961-962
Paid or unpaid	No mandatory voting-leave pay under §§ 23:961-962
When leave is taken	No statutory voting-leave window; § 23:962 instead prohibits specified attempts to control a laborer's suffrage or vote
Employee notice and employer posting	No voting-leave request deadline, required form, or employer-posting duty stated
Protection and penalties	Section 23:961 bars specified political-participation restrictions and discharge threats, authorizes employee damages, and sets individual and entity criminal fines plus possible individual imprisonment; § 23:962 sets a $100-$500 fine and up to 1 year for specified discharge or vote-control conduct

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Political protection is not voting leave

The located current Louisiana statutes do not require an ordinary private
employer to release an employee from work to vote. They provide no leave
duration, paid-time rule, outside-work-hours test, request procedure, employer
scheduling right, or voting-leave posting duty.

Louisiana instead regulates specified political coercion. Under § 23:961, an
employer regularly employing at least 20 employees generally may not forbid
political participation, control employees' political activities or
affiliations, or use threats of discharge or lost employment to coerce support
for a political faction or organization or other political activity.

That section carries criminal consequences and preserves an injured employee's
right to recover damages. An individual violator faces a $100 to $1,000 fine,
up to six months' imprisonment, or both; a violating firm, corporation, or
association faces a $500 to $2,000 fine.

Section 23:962 separately addresses a narrower employment relationship. It
criminalizes a planter, manager, overseer, or other employer of laborers who,
before a laborer's service term expires, discharges the laborer for political
opinions or attempts by contract or agreement to control the laborer's vote.
The punishment is a $100 to $500 fine and up to one year of imprisonment.

What trips people up

Section 23:961 is sometimes miscited as a paid voting-leave law. Its official
text says nothing about two hours, paid time, work schedules, or leave. It
protects political participation and affiliation from specified employer
control and coercion.

Likewise, § 23:962's prohibition on attempting to control a laborer's vote does
not require the employer to provide time away from a scheduled shift.

Common questions

Does Louisiana require two paid hours to vote?

No. No such rule appears in §§ 23:961-962 or another located current statute.

Can an employer threaten discharge to control political support?

Section 23:961 prohibits specified discharge threats by employers regularly
employing at least 20 employees.

Must an employee give advance notice to vote?

No statutory notice deadline exists because Louisiana has no general
private-employer voting-leave entitlement.

Statutes and sources

La. R.S. 23:961: political-participation and affiliation protection,
penalties, and employee damages — official text
(accessed July 13, 2026).
La. R.S. 23:962: specified political-opinion discharge and vote-control
offense — official text
(accessed July 13, 2026).

Source links

Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.

La. R.S. 23:961 · accessed 2026-07-13

La. R.S. 23:962 · accessed 2026-07-13

This page is general legal information about state-law workplace rights for an employee who needs time away from scheduled work to cast a ballot, not legal advice about voter eligibility, polling hours, an employment dispute, or a particular election. The election type, voting day, poll schedule, employee notice, work shift, employer coverage, and available nonworking time can change the result. Separate rules govern voter registration, mail voting, election officials, poll workers, campaigns, public employees, and local ordinances. Verified against the official statute text on the date shown; confirm current law or consult the election authority, labor agency, or a licensed attorney before relying on it.

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