Paid special leave for public employees at the State Elections Commission

It is a paid leave, of up to five business days, that lets a government or municipal employee temporarily go work at the State Elections Commission during the election year without losing pay or having to use vacation time, as long as a party's Electoral Commissioner requests it.

Every employee of the Government of Puerto Rico, its agencies, dependencies, public corporations and municipalities. Use is conditioned on the request being made by each party's Electoral Commissioner, on it being used during work hours between July 1 of the General Election year and the end of the general vote count or recount, and on the employee presenting the workday certification signed by that Commissioner.

• Be an employee of the Government of Puerto Rico, one of its agencies, dependencies, public corporations, or a municipality.Verified against the official source
• That the request to use the leave be made by each political party's Electoral Commissioner.Verified against the official source
• Use it during work hours, starting July 1 of the General Election year and through the end of the general vote count or recount.Verified against the official source

• A certification issued by the State Elections Commission and signed by the Electoral Commissioner, crediting the workday performed, presented to the government entity where the employee works.

1. 1

   Step 1: The Electoral Commissioner requests your assignment

   This leave is not started by the employee directly: it is granted when the request comes from each party's Electoral Commissioner, who will later certify the work performed (new Art. 4.3(4)(b)).

2. 2

   Step 2: Request it at your government entity

   The head of your agency, public corporation, or the mayor must approve the request within 48 hours of receiving it, and cannot dock you for the workday performed at the Commission (new Art. 4.3(4)).

3. 3

   Step 3: Only between July 1 and the end of the count or recount

   The leave is used "during work hours and starting July 1st of the General Election year, and until the general count or recount is finished" (new Art. 4.3(4)(a)).

4. 4

   Step 4: Bring the certification signed by the Electoral Commissioner

   The employee must present to their government entity "the certification issued by the Commission and signed by the Electoral Commissioner crediting the employee's workday" (new Art. 4.3(4)(c)).

5. 5

   Step 5: Do not exceed the five days

   The responsibility for not exceeding the number of days claimed and granted falls on both the employee and the agency heads, public-corporation heads, and mayors, as the law expressly states.

The request is processed within your own government entity (agency, public corporation or municipality), following the request made by the party's Electoral Commissioner. The State Elections Commission (CEE), together with the Office of Human Resources Administration and Transformation of the Puerto Rico Government (OATRH), had one hundred eighty (180) days from the law's approval (June 2, 2026, around late November 2026) to regulate the process's operational criteria — we did not read that regulation, so we do not publish the specific form.

• Requesting it directly without an Electoral Commissioner asking for it: the law requires the request to come from that figure.
• Confusing it with the formal destaque (detail) to the CEE: they are different mechanisms, and this one has a fixed five-day cap.
• Not presenting the certification signed by the Electoral Commissioner to your government entity.
• Using it outside the window: it only applies from July 1 of the General Election year through the end of the general vote count or recount.
• Exceeding the five business days: the law holds both the employee and their agency head or mayor responsible for not exceeding it.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Comisión Estatal de Elecciones (CEE)

  CEE

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov