New Hampshire: Voting Leave Requirements

New Hampshire has no time-off-to-vote law

New Hampshire does not require an employer to release an employee to vote. There is
no set number of hours, no paid-time rule, no outside-work-hours test, and no
notice or posting requirement, because no voting-leave statute exists. The chip
table reads "N/A" across those columns for that reason.

In practice, a New Hampshire employee who needs to vote uses the state's poll hours,
an absentee ballot where eligible, or arranges time with the employer. Whether the
employer grants that time, and whether it is paid, is a matter of company policy or
contract, not state law.

The nearest voting protection

New Hampshire does not single out employers, but its general voter-protection crime
reaches an employer just as it reaches anyone else. Under RSA 659:40, no person may
bribe someone about registering or voting, and no person may use or threaten force,
violence, or any tactic of coercion or intimidation to induce or compel another
person to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote a particular way. The section also
forbids voter suppression through knowingly false or misleading information. A
violation — or a conspiracy to violate it — is a class B felony.

For an employee, that means an employer who tried to coerce or intimidate the person
about voting could face criminal liability. It is not a right to leave work to vote,
and it does not require paid time or set any notice rule.

What trips people up

New Hampshire's protection is a criminal statute about coercion, not a workplace
leave law. It is easy to read "voter intimidation is a felony" as though the state
also guarantees time to vote. It does not.

If a shift genuinely conflicts with every chance to vote, New Hampshire law does
not compel the employer to provide time off. The state's poll hours and, where
eligible, an absentee ballot are the practical fallback.

Common questions

Does my New Hampshire employer have to give me time off to vote?

No. No New Hampshire statute requires time off to vote, paid or unpaid.

Can my employer pressure me about voting?

No. Under RSA 659:40, using coercion or intimidation to compel a person to vote or
not vote is a class B felony, and that applies to an employer.

What if I cannot get to the polls around my shift?

Use the state's poll hours or, if eligible, an absentee ballot, or ask your
employer. State law leaves the scheduling to the employer.

Statutes and sources

• RSA 659:40: bars bribery, coercion or intimidation, and suppression aimed at a
  voter; violation is a class B felony — official code text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).