Skip to main content
Felicia Burnett's picture
Four years ago, Regina got up early to vote before her workday started at Walmart. It ended up taking two hours to cast her ballot. Thankfully, she made it to work just in time, but voting shouldn’t be that stressful!
 
No worker at Walmart, or any other business, should have to worry about facing a reprimand (or even losing a job) in order to exercise their right to vote.
 
Join us in asking large employers like Walmart to give their employees 3 hours of paid time off work to go vote on Election Day! http://action.momsrising.org/sign/employer_timeoff_voting/
 
This is a big deal. In the last presidential election, only about half of eligible voters across the U.S. turned out to vote, and in 2014 only one-third made it to the polls. Why? Well, most American workers have little or no paid time off. In fact, 41% of them didn’t take a single day off for anything at all in 2015.
 
Companies like Walmart that employ a large number of low-wage workers have a great opportunity to do right by their employees—and by our democracy—by giving their employees just a couple of hours of paid time off to go vote! In fact, this small accommodation by large employers on November 8th could make a HUGE difference in voter turnout.
 
Take action now to support eligible voters in casting their votes! http://action.momsrising.org/sign/employer_timeoff_voting/
 
Widespread problems with voting and low voter participation is not the fault of individuals, but of system challenges that mean low-wage workers have little or no paid time off, limited child care, and inadequate public transportation. Together we can fix this!
 
Sign our petition! Ask large employers like Walmart to give their employees 3 hours of paid time off work to go vote! http://action.momsrising.org/sign/employer_timeoff_voting/
 
Voting is a right we hold dear in the U.S., but with too few voters making it to the polls each election year, we need to do everything we can to make sure people have the time they need to cast their ballot. Low-wage workers have it especially difficult because their work is typically less flexible and they are twice as likely to have to wait in long lines once they get to the polls.
 
All eligible voters should have the opportunity to cast their vote during election season, which is why we’re asking employers like Walmart to give hourly employees 3 hours of paid time off to be used for the purpose of voting.
 
Sign on now! Tell employers to do right by their employees by providing time off to vote without causing economic hardship: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/employer_timeoff_voting/

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of MomsRising.org.

MomsRising.org strongly encourages our readers to post comments in response to blog posts. We value diversity of opinions and perspectives. Our goals for this space are to be educational, thought-provoking, and respectful. So we actively moderate comments and we reserve the right to edit or remove comments that undermine these goals. Thanks!