Tex. Codes » Election Code · TITLE 16. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS · CHAPTER 276. MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES AND OTHER PROVISIONS
Texas Codes

Tex. Elec. Code § 276.004 (2026)

Unlawfully Prohibiting Employee From Voting

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section TX-LEGstatutes.capitol.texas.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Sec. 276.004. UNLAWFULLY PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE FROM VOTING. (a) A person commits an offense if, with respect to another person over whom the person has authority in the scope of employment, the person knowingly:

(1) refuses to permit the other person to be absent from work on election day or while early voting is in progress for the purpose of attending the polls to vote; or

(2) subjects or threatens to subject the other person to a penalty for attending the polls on election day or while early voting is in progress to vote.

(b) It is an exception to the application of this section that the person's conduct occurs in connection with an election in which the polls are open on election day or while early voting is in progress for voting for two consecutive hours outside of the voter's working hours.

(c) In this section, "penalty" means a loss or reduction of wages or another benefit of employment.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 80, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2021, 87th Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 1), Sec. 7.02, eff. December 2, 2021.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: Winters v. Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co., 795 S.W.2d 723 (Tex. 1990).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Winters v. Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co., 795 S.W.2d 723 (Tex. 1990). · cites it 2× “1990) (mentally retarded people cannot be denied equal employment opportunities); Tex.Elec.Code Ann. § 276.004 (Vernon 1986) (employers subject to criminal liability for not allowing employees time off to vote); Tex.”
Austin v. Healthtrust, Inc.-The Hosp. Co., 967 S.W.2d 400 (Tex. 1998). · cites it 2× “015 (mandating that mentally retarded *403 individuals receive equal employment opportunities); TEX. ELEC.CODE § 276.004 (subjecting employer to criminal liability for prohibiting employee from voting); TEX.”
Martin v. Clinical Pathology Labs., Inc., 343 S.W.3d 885 (Tex. App. 2011). “Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 276.004 (West 2010).”
Simmons Airlines v. Lagrotte, 50 S.W.3d 748 (Tex. App. 2001). “015 (Vernon 1992) (mandating that mentally retarded individuals receive equal employment opportunities); Tex. Elec.Code Ann. § 276.004 (Vernon 1986) (subjecting employer to criminal liability for prohibiting employee from voting); Tex.”
Un del Pueblo Entero v. Nelson (5th Cir. 2025). “02 (codified at Tex. Elec. Code § 276.004). 56 Id. § 7.04 (codified at Tex.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.