CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland leaders have approved a measure that will provide some employees with paid time off on Election Day so they can vote.
The effort, which was supported by both Mayor Justin Bibb and City Council, passed at Monday night’s council meeting.
The law change provides city employees with up to four hours of paid leave on general election days, which is intended to give them time to head to the polls.
For the 2024 election in particular, the option will only be available to non-unionized city workers. In future years, the offering could roll out to all employees, including those who are members of unions.
For now, it’s limited to non-union workers because collective bargaining agreements dictate the terms of paid time off — and the Election Day offering has not yet been negotiated with the 30-some unions representing city workers.
Those negotiations are forthcoming, but they won’t be done in time to apply to this year’s general election, Human Resources Chief Matt Cole told a council committee on Monday.
Similar to other new benefits that likewise required inclusion in collective bargaining agreements, the time off on Election Day could be formalized in future bargaining agreements, which would allow union workers to have the time off in the 2025 election, and beyond.
Austin Davis, an advisor of Bibb’s, said the new offering is intended to address a major contributor to depressed vote turnout: voters not having enough time to go to the polls.
Davis cited a 2022 U.S. Census survey that found about one-quarter of registered voters who missed a vote said they did so because they were too busy.
Cleveland’s effort, Davis said, is intended to give city workers the time to vote, and also to “celebrate this essential day in our democracy.”
Councilwoman Jenny Spencer, a co-sponsor of the move, said Cleveland is attempting to lead the way in a country that makes it “pretty hard to vote.”
“We want to lift up our employees and make sure they have every access they can to the ballot box,” Spencer said.
Employees who use the time off will make arrangements with their manager regarding when, specifically, they can leave the office on Election Day, Cole said.
Cole also indicated that City Hall will remain open on Election Days.
