U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-GA, led a contingent of her Democratic colleagues – including two from the Georgia delegation – in writing a letter to President Donald Trump condemning his Administration’s reported policy change prohibiting federal employees from using paid administrative leave to vote or serve as non-partisan poll workers and demand he reverse the policy. Williams said the President’s action is part of an executive order signed March 25, 2025, and called “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.”
Georgia Democratic Representatives Hank Johnson and Lucy McBath so-signed the letter which “expressed deep concern over reports that federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have already begun notifying employees that they may no longer take administrative leave for civic duties directly related to the electoral process,” said Williams.
Williams writes in the letter: “It is deeply troubling that your Administration does not view civic engagement and voter participation to be an inherently good thing. We firmly believe that no eligible voter in this country should be discouraged from voting. Instead, their right to be heard in their community should be actively facilitated. A person’s right to cast a ballot should not be dependent on what job they have nor the whims of their employer. We condemn your attempts to deny your own employees their voice.”
In the letter, Williams demands the Administration clarify whether it will issue guidance to employees in the 29 states and D.C. that require time off to vote, and whether it will affirm compliance with those laws. She says that “limiting access to time off for voting disproportionately affects caregivers and working families, and in practice, discourages the very in-person voting the Trump Administration claims to support.” She went on to say that “removing leave to vote, the policy ironically pushes more people toward vote-by-mail options—an approach Trump has consistently criticized.”
In her letter, Williams asks two questions of the President: Will your Administration issue guidance reaffirming federal employee rights under state voting leave laws; and if not, on what legal basis does your Administration justify ignoring these state-level protections?
