The election is in one week, but it’s not too late to help your employees vote. Colorado law requires that, in many circumstances, employers provide eligible voters two hours of paid time off to vote on election day. But employers can do more than the law requires, including:

1. Giving employers paid time off to vote at any time during the next week so that can vote early.
   
2. Making election day a paid holiday so that the entire employee base has all day to vote (and to help get out the vote, if desired). Hundreds of large and small companies across the country, including Rocky Mountain Anglers and Ultimate Direction here in Colorado, have signed on to this practice.
   
3. Declaring November 3 a meetings-free day (if it’s not already a holiday).
   
4. Sharing voting information with employees. For example, sharing that it’s too late to mail in ballots but not to register to vote and drop their ballots and how to locate where to do so. Make sure you translate into other languages, as needed, for your entire employee base to fully understand. The webpage of the Secretary of State has all the information you need.
   
5. Providing employees face masks and sanitizer to help them vote safely.

Democracy could use an assist from the business sector. Only 55% of voting-age citizens cast ballots in 2016 — the lowest turnout in a presidential election since 1996 (54%). This year has additional challenges to safe voting, including a pandemic, wildfires and social unrest. In other words, it’s as great time for employers to facilitate civic involvement.

​Points of Light, a partner of CSR Solutions of Colorado, collaborated with Carol Cone and Hart Research to conduct an AT&T-funded study on the state of American civic engagement. The survey of over 1400 adults in the United States found that:

• Two-thirds of respondents (66%) agree that the pandemic will have a long-lasting positive impact on willingness to help others and make a difference.
  
• Almost all respondents (95%) say they will maintain or increase their current level of civic involvement after the pandemic passes.
  
• Sharing experiences with friends (64% of respondents selected this) and family (56%) have emerged as the most effective incentives to attract volunteers.
  
• The top barriers to civic engagement are not knowing how or where to get involved (44% of respondents selected this), finding nearby opportunities (44%) and believing what they can offer is truly helpful (43%).

In other words, this Points of Light research finds that a civic involvement movement is underway in 2020. For our communities to fully benefit from this new energy, however, it’s important for nonprofits to help individuals find opportunities where they can truly add value, ideally with friends and family.

Learn more by downloading the “Civic Life Today” report.