For the past few months, The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) has provided weekly updates on information to facilitate our members’ participation in the presidential elections. Currently, over 97 million Americans have cast their ballots during early voting season, according to the nonpartisan U.S. Elections project. This election has already made history for its high participation, but it won’t be complete until citizens who have not yet voted to do so in person at their regular polling place tomorrow, November 3.   

FIND OUR ELECTION PAGE HERE! 

Please take the one most meaningful step any employer can take: provide paid time off for workers to vote. We are additionally encouraging business to join in a pledge to promote participation by providing paid time off for worker to vote, or volunteer as poll workers during elections day. By law, some states already require employers to grant workers time off to exercise their right to vote, yet it is important to consult the regulation of each legislation since it changes state by state. If you can, please encourage those who are low risk for Covid-19 to volunteer as pollwatchers tomorrow. It’s important! (Contact your state election authority to find out how to become an official pollwatcher.) 

Here are several highlights of last week’s significant election-related developments:  

Harris County drive-thru voting validated by Texas Supreme Court  
Both the Texas Supreme Court and a federal judge ruled against efforts to close drive-thru voting facilities in Harris County. Both rulings also continued to find as valid the 127,000 votes already cast in those polling places.

Americans vote early in historic record-breaking numbers  
Despite fears that Covid-19 would impair voter participation, as of today, a record number of early voters have cast their ballots in-person, in drop-off boxes and by USPS mail, in all states including traditional battlegrounds. More than 97 million Americans have already exercised their right to vote; equivalent to 60% of the entire turnout in 2016. This dramatic figure is especially significant in the Lone Star State. Expectations are high in Texas where early voting already exceed the overall number from the previous presidential election, and the outcome might determine a winner in the race for the White House.  

So please...VOTE!