Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has pressed the administration on how an order to promote voting came about. Image: Ayman Haykal/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOPM has reminded agencies of guidance it issued in 2022 that they “should allow” employees up to four hours of administrative leave—excused absence from work without charge to any other form of leave—for voting and for work such as non-partisan poll watching.
“The administrative leave may be used for voting on an established election day or for early voting,” says the memo, on chcoc.gov, and is available “in connection with Federal general election day and in connection with each election event (including primaries and caucuses) at the Federal, State, local (i.e., county and municipal), Tribal, and territorial level.”
“Agencies should allow employees to use up to 4 hours of administrative leave per leave year to serve as a non-partisan poll worker or non-partisan observer, and this leave is in addition to any administrative leave an employee uses to vote,” it says. “We are also clarifying that employees who use administrative leave to serve as a non-partisan poll worker or non-partisan observer are not required to return compensation or fees received for performing this service to their employing agency.”
The 2022 guidance came in response to an executive order of the previous year establishing those policies and instructing agencies to take a range of actions to promote voting. Previously, there was authority for administrative leave for voting only in more limited situations and no authority for working at a poll.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has pressed the administration several times for information on how that order was written, most recently just days ago.
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