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Kansas: Voting Leave Requirements

verified against the statute 2026-07-13 1 statute source

The short answer

A Kansas voter may take up to two consecutive hours off to vote on election day, with no penalty and no deduction from usual pay. The two hours is a top-up: if the polls are open for two or more consecutive hours outside your work shift you get no work-time leave, and if they are open for less, your leave is cut so the total reaches two hours. The employer may choose which hours you take, except it cannot make you use your regular lunch period. Intentionally obstructing an employee's voting, or penalizing the employee for it, is a class A misdemeanor.

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

Governing law	K.S.A. 25-418
Eligible workers and elections	Any person entitled to vote at an election conducted by a county election officer in Kansas, on election day (§ 25-418)
Outside-work-hours test	The 2-hour entitlement is reduced by outside-work poll time: leave plus any period the polls are open before starting or after finishing work may not exceed 2 consecutive hours — so 2+ consecutive hours of open-poll time outside work means no leave (§ 25-418)
Time-off amount	Not more than 2 consecutive hours between the opening and closing of the polls, reduced by outside-work poll time (§ 25-418)
Paid or unpaid	Paid — no penalty and no deduction from usual salary or wages for the absence (§ 25-418)
When leave is taken	Employer may specify the particular time of day the employee takes the leave, except that specified time may not fall during the regular lunch period (§ 25-418)
Employee notice and employer posting	§ 25-418 states no employee-notice and no employer-posting duty
Protection and penalties	Intentionally obstructing an employee's exercise of the voting privilege, or imposing a penalty on an employee for exercising it, is 'obstruction of voting privilege,' a class A misdemeanor; the penal provision applies to employers (§ 25-418; State v. Latsha)

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Up to two consecutive hours, as a top-up

Kansas gives an employee entitled to vote up to two consecutive hours off on
election day to vote. The right is not a flat two hours on top of your day off.
It is measured against the time the polls are open around your shift: your leave,
added to any stretch the polls are open before you start work or after you finish,
cannot exceed two consecutive hours.

So if the polls are open two or more consecutive hours while you are off the clock,
you are entitled to no work-time leave — you already have your window. If they are
open for less than two consecutive hours outside your shift, your work-time leave
is the amount that brings the total up to two hours.

The time is paid

The absence carries no penalty, and the employer may not deduct it from your usual
salary or wages. Within the two-hour limit, qualifying voting time in Kansas is
paid time.

The employer picks the hours, but not your lunch

The employer may specify the particular time of day you take the leave. That
scheduling power has one express limit: the specified time cannot fall during your
regular lunch period. The employer cannot satisfy the statute by pointing you to a
break you already get.

What trips people up

The two hours is a ceiling and a top-up, not a guaranteed block. Many Kansas
employees whose shifts leave two or more open-poll hours on either end will find
they are entitled to no paid work-time leave at all, because the statute treats
that outside time as sufficient.

The lunch-period carve-out matters in the other direction. An employer that tries
to route your voting time into the meal break has not met the statute.

Common questions

Does every Kansas employee get two paid hours to vote?

No. The two hours is reduced by any time the polls are open outside your shift. If
that outside window is already two consecutive hours or more, you get no work-time
leave.

Is the time paid?

Yes. Within the two-hour limit there is no penalty and no deduction from your usual
pay.

Can my employer decide when I go?

Yes, the employer may set the particular hours — but it cannot make that time your
regular lunch period.

What happens to an employer who blocks it?

Intentionally obstructing an employee's voting, or penalizing the employee for
voting under this section, is a class A misdemeanor, and the penalty falls on the
employer.

Statutes and sources

K.S.A. 25-418: up-to-two-consecutive-hour paid voting absence, the outside-poll
top-up limit, the employer's hour-setting power (excluding the lunch period), and
the class A misdemeanor for obstruction — official code text
(accessed July 13, 2026).

Source links

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

K.S.A. 25-418 · 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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