Voting and Registering
CIO CONTACT: Management
Analysis and Services Office, Management Analysis Branch
MATERIAL SUPERSEDED:
Personnel Guide for Supervisors, Chapter IV - Conditions for Employment, CDC Guide 5-1, 92.1, 10/20/92
I. INTRODUCTION
CDC personnel will be excused from duty to register and vote in accordance with the guidelines in this issuance. Additional information may be found in the following:
Federal Personnel Manual, Chapter 630, Subchapter 11, Section 11-6 a., Registration and Voting
HHS Personnel Instruction 630-1, Item 630-1-80C.13, Voting and Registration
HHS Personnel Instruction 790-1, Absentee Voting for HHS Employees Stationed Outside of the United States
Time and Leave Accounts Manual, HHS Chapter 3-30-90, Voting and Registration Leave
The servicing personnel generalist or the Employee Assistance and Compensation Section, Employee Relations, Assistance, and Compensation Branch, may be contacted for further guidance.
II. GUIDELINES
When practicable without seriously interfering with operations, the supervisor will excuse an employee from duty for a reasonable time to vote or register in any election or in a referendum on a civic matter in the employee's community as prescribed by this issuance, the Federal Personnel Manual, and the Time and Leave Accounts Manual. Whether an employee will be excused to vote will be determined by the employee's regular hours of work, the location where the employee votes, and the hours that the polls are open. An employee must obtain approval from the supervisor prior to being absent for voting or registering.
1. Voting During Regular Working Hours (Including an Employee on a Flexible Work Schedule): Generally, an employee may report for work 3 hours after the polls open or leave work 3 hours before the polls close, whichever results in the least amount of time off. For example, if the polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., an employee who regularly works from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. would usually be excused from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. since this would be 3 hours before the polls close. However, an employee who regularly works from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. would usually not need to be excused early to vote since the polls would not close for 3 more hours.
2. Voting in Exceptional Circumstances: Under exceptional circumstances when the general rule in 1. above does not permit sufficient time to vote, excused absence for additional time off may be granted depending on the individual circumstances. However, the excused time off to vote may not exceed a full day. If an employee's voting place is beyond normal commuting distance and vote by absentee ballot is not permitted, the employee may be granted sufficient time off to make the trip to the voting place to cast a ballot. When more than 1 day is required to make the trip to the voting place, the employee may request annual leave or leave without pay for the additional time.
An employee who is assigned to a CDC position in the United States and anticipates being in an official travel status on election day may wish to contact the county voter registration office for information on voting by absentee ballot.
3. Registering: For an employee who votes in a jurisdiction which requires registration in person, time off to register may be granted on the same basis as for voting. However, no time will be granted if registration can be accomplished on a nonworkday and the place of registration is within a reasonable 1-day round-trip travel distance of the employee's place of residence.
4. Absentee Voting for Overseas Citizens: The Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975, as amended in 1978, applies to CDC employees and their dependents who are stationed outside of the United States. The servicing personnel generalist will inform CDC employees being assigned overseas about voting.
Generally, a citizen residing outside the United States will be eligible to register absentee, and vote by absentee ballot, at the location where last domiciled immediately prior to departure from the United States. A citizen may register and vote under this Act only if he or she:
-- Complies with all applicable State qualifications.
-- Is not voting in any other State or election district.
-- Has a valid passport or card of identity and registration issued under the authority of the Secretary of State.
*References to CDC also apply to ATSDR.