WASHINGTON, D.C., October 30, 2008 – Northern Virginia congressmen Tom Davis, R-11th, and Jim Moran, D-8th, wrote today to ask the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to give federal employees two extra hours of excused absence to vote on Election Day.
“This may be the election of a lifetime in terms of voter interest and turnout,” said
Davis . “Federal employees have a huge stake in elections, and it’s only fitting their employers make sure they can cast their ballots. Without this, a lot of federal employees will have to choose between working when they’re supposed to work and voting. And that’s not right.”
"Given the record turnout projected, traffic congestion in our region and the possibility of voting machine difficulties as many localities transition from electronic to paper ballots, we request OPM increase by two hours the window of excused leave time federal employees have to vote on November 4th,” said Moran. “Every vote counts and every federal employee should have the opportunity to cast a ballot on Election Day.”
Current OPM rules dictate that if the polls are not open at least three hours either before or after an employee’s regular work hours, an agency may grant a limited amount of excused absence that will permit the employee to report for work three hours after the polls open or leave from work three hours before the polls close, whichever requires the lesser amount of time off. Employees “regular work hours” are determined by the time of day employees normally arrive at and depart from work.
For example, in Virginia polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Employees scheduled to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. would not be eligible for excused absence since, under OPM’s rules, they would have three hours before work in which to vote. Those who work 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. would be eligible to receive a half-hour of excused absence.
