ALEXANDRIA, Va.–Another credit union has announced it will close its offices on Nov. 3, election day, to allow its employees to vote.
The credit union said it is doing so because “every voice matters.”
Democracy FCU said that with the unique challenges this election faces due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer volunteers and with heightened levels of emotion, it is important that everyone dedicate their time to helping the country.
“The credit union philosophy is all about People Helping People. By empowering our employees to exercise their right to vote, we are standing tall in our communities and participating in our country’s most important decision,” said CEO Ken Cahoon. “Giving our employees the time to vote helps to strengthen our country and economy.”
Other credit unions that have announced they are closing on election day or giving employees time off to vote include Xplore FCU, Credit Union of Texas and Securityplus FCU.
Time To Vote Movement
In addition, Democracy FCU has joined the Time to Vote nonpartisan movement to increase voter participating in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election.
“Voter turnout in the U.S. is one of the lowest in the developed world and one of the most common reasons people give for not voting is that they are too busy with the demands of life and work,” the credit union said. “The coalition, which represents more than six million workers in the U.S., is addressing this challenge by giving employees the time and the tools they need to exercise their right to vote in the November general election.”
Also joining Time to Vote: Tacoma, Wash.-based CU Strategic Planning, which works with credit unions to transition their business plans to increase service to working-class people, improve quality of life in distressed communities, and provide financial inclusion to marginalized populations.
“We know too well through our work with credit unions to unlock potential in their communities that many people of modest means are most likely to be disenfranchised from their voting rights,” CU Strategic Planning Founder Jamie Chase said. “Following our mission to unlock opportunities for credit unions to change their communities, we are demonstrating with action that credit unions have a role to play in preventing the disenfranchisement of voters and encouraging equal access to voting.”
Company’s Pledge
To ensure CU Strategic Planning staff is able to vote, the company said it:
- Updated our policy to ensure any employee that needs time off to vote is authorized to perform their civic duty and vote at any time between the opening of early voting and including Election Day
- Allowed any employee who would like to volunteer time to assist in the facilitation of the polls, increase voter access to the polls or actively work to protect voter rights on election day can also be approved to have time off to complete such volunteer activity
- Provided a list of non-partisan volunteer ideas and organizations to staff to encourage their ability to participate in our Time to Vote commitment.
“One of credit unions’ foundational core is financial democracy, so it just makes sense for us and credit union to participate in this movement to promote democracy and equal access to voting,” Strayer said. “We hope credit unions will join us in supporting this worthy cause.”