Vermont: Voting Leave Requirements

Vermont has no time-off-to-vote law

Vermont 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.

A Vermont employee who needs to vote typically uses early or absentee voting,
which is broadly available, 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.

What Vermont law does protect

Vermont's election law guards the integrity of a person's vote rather than the
time to cast it. Under 17 V.S.A. § 2017, a person who "attempts by bribery,
threats, or any undue influence to dictate, control, or alter the vote of a voter"
at a local, primary, or general election may be fined up to $200. An employer who
pressured an employee over how to vote could fall within that prohibition.

But § 2017 is not an employment statute. It says nothing about leaving work to
vote, paid time, or firing an employee for voting. It protects the freedom of the
ballot, not the schedule around it.

What trips people up

The absence of a voting-leave law does not mean employees have no protection at
all — it means the protection Vermont provides is about undue influence over the
vote itself, not about time off. Do not read § 2017 as a right to leave work.

If a shift conflicts with every chance to vote in person, Vermont law does not
compel the employer to give time off. Early and absentee voting are the practical
routes.

Common questions

Does my Vermont employer have to give me time off to vote?

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

Can my employer pressure me about how to vote?

Attempting by bribery, threats, or undue influence to dictate or alter a voter's
vote is a fineable offense under § 2017.

How do I vote if my shift covers the whole day?

Vermont offers early and absentee voting; you can also ask your employer for time,
though the law does not require it.

Statutes and sources

• 17 V.S.A. § 2017: bars attempting by bribery, threats, or undue influence to
  dictate, control, or alter a voter's vote, with a fine up to $200; Vermont has
  no separate time-off-to-vote statute — 2025 Vermont Statutes text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).