50-State Surveys › Voting Leave Requirements by State › Vermont

Vermont: Voting Leave Requirements

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

The short answer

Vermont does not require employers to give employees time off to vote, paid or unpaid. Its election law protects a voter's choice — attempting by bribery, threats, or undue influence to dictate, control, or alter a voter's vote is a fineable offense — but that is about how a ballot is cast, not about leave from work. An employee who needs to vote relies on early or absentee voting or the employer's own policy.

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

Governing law	No voting-leave statute; general voter-protection provision is 17 V.S.A. § 2017
Eligible workers and elections	No statutory time-off right; § 2017 protects any voter's choice at a local, primary, or general election from bribery, threats, or undue influence
Outside-work-hours test	N/A No leave statute, so no outside-work-hours test exists
Time-off amount	N/A No statutory time off to vote
Paid or unpaid	N/A No statutory voting leave to pay
When leave is taken	N/A No statutory leave to schedule
Employee notice and employer posting	N/A No statutory employee-notice or employer-posting duty
Protection and penalties	No time-off right; attempting by bribery, threats, or undue influence to dictate or alter a voter's vote is punishable by a fine of up to $200 (§ 2017)

Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →

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).

Source links

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

17 V.S.A. § 2017 · 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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