Published
Oct 25, 2018
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Over 300 American companies pledge to give employees time to vote in midterm election

Published
Oct 25, 2018

Ahead of the rapidly approaching U.S. midterm elections on November 6, more and more companies across the country are using their corporate platform to encourage employees to vote.


Companies like Gap, Walmart, The North Face, Patagonia, Nordstrom, Levi Strauss, Bombas and Timberland have all pledged to give employees time to vote on election day. - Via Reuters


In partnership with the Time to Vote campaign, over 300 U.S. businesses have pledged to give employees time off on election day, often through several hours or a full day of paid leave. On Time to Vote's website, the non-profit claims that "one of the most common reasons people give for not voting is that they’re too busy with the demands of work and life." 

Current participants include Gap, Walmart, The North Face, Patagonia, Nordstrom, Levi Strauss, Bombas and Timberland, among others. In addition, companies like Lyft and Uber have pledged to waive riding fees to polling places on election day. 

The intensity and reiteration of corporate calls to vote are typically non-partisan – with some noteworthy exceptions, such as Patagonia's recent political endorsements – but come in tow with national calls for Democrats to take back the Republican-dominated Congress, in addition to corporate displeasure with retaliatory Chinese tariffs. 

This influx of political enthusiasm comes as midterm voting rates in the United States hit historic lows, especially in comparison to their more glamorous presidential counterpart. Only a reported 36.4 percent of eligible voters cast their vote in the last midterm election of 2014, the lowest turnout since the country was embroiled in World War II. 

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