Trillium News
October 3, 2022

88% of Americans Support PTO to Vote on Election Day

88% of Americans Support PTO to Vote on Election Day88% of Americans Support PTO to Vote on Election Day

Dear U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and Members of Congress,

While most Americans agree that an engaged electorate is critical for a well-functioning democracy, hurdles still exist in getting people to the polls—including securing the necessary time off from work to vote. As election day approaches, learn more about the problem, potential solutions, and how your state and a collection of large-cap companies are addressing this issue in our latest white paper.

Recent events in American history underscore the need for a highly engaged electorate and fair voting systems to support a well-functioning democracy and economy. One of the hurdles to participating in democracy is that Americans lack guaranteed time to vote, often causing a conflict between voters’ work schedules and their desire to go to the polls.

In 2022, Trillium, continuing outreach that began in 2019, wrote to and spoke with the companies held in our Large Cap Core strategy to assess their paid time off to vote policies and encouraged uptake for companies that lacked them. Positively, 45% of the companies that responded to our outreach offer some form of paid time off to vote, many of which started offering the benefit ahead of the 2020 election. However, there are still many companies that follow a compliance approach and do not offer material support for employees to vote. With the 2022 midterm elections coming up, we encourage companies and investors to prioritize voting rights as a key issue.

Recent events in American history underscore the need for a highly engaged electorate and fair voting systems to support a well-functioning democracy and economy. One of the hurdles to participating in democracy is that Americans lack guaranteed time to vote, often causing a conflict between voters’ work schedules and their desire to go to the polls.

In 2022, Trillium, continuing outreach that began in 2019, wrote to and spoke with the companies held in our Large Cap Core strategy to assess their paid time off to vote policies and encouraged uptake for companies that lacked them. Positively, 45% of the companies that responded to our outreach offer some form of paid time off to vote, many of which started offering the benefit ahead of the 2020 election. However, there are still many companies that follow a compliance approach and do not offer material support for employees to vote. With the 2022 midterm elections coming up, we encourage companies and investors to prioritize voting rights as a key issue.

Recent events in American history underscore the need for a highly engaged electorate and fair voting systems to support a well-functioning democracy and economy. One of the hurdles to participating in democracy is that Americans lack guaranteed time to vote, often causing a conflict between voters’ work schedules and their desire to go to the polls.

In 2022, Trillium, continuing outreach that began in 2019, wrote to and spoke with the companies held in our Large Cap Core strategy to assess their paid time off to vote policies and encouraged uptake for companies that lacked them. Positively, 45% of the companies that responded to our outreach offer some form of paid time off to vote, many of which started offering the benefit ahead of the 2020 election. However, there are still many companies that follow a compliance approach and do not offer material support for employees to vote. With the 2022 midterm elections coming up, we encourage companies and investors to prioritize voting rights as a key issue.

Trillium's Approach to Investing in Energy and Power
No genuine effort to slow or combat climate change can ignore Energy and Power. Trillium seeks to find the companies best-positioned to lead―and benefit from―the ongoing energy transition. Learn more about our approach to investing in Energy and Power.

Advocacy Impact Report - Second Half 2021
Trillium considers it fundamental to our mission and our fiduciary responsibility to engage with the companies that we hold in our portfolios to press for positive change that we believe will help improve ESG policies, performance, or impact. Learn more about our recent engagement activities.
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