Hundreds of companies, business executives, and celebrities have signed onto a new statement in defense of voting rights that appeared as a two-page advertisement in the Wednesday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post. NBC called the new statement “the latest and largest mobilization by corporate America against restrictive voting legislation advanced by Republicans around the country.” Although no systematic problems were discovered in the electoral processes that were used for the 2020 cycle, Republicans have gone full speed ahead with an array of new voting restrictions.
Some of these restrictions are serious. In Georgia, for instance, Republican Governor Brian Kemp recently signed wide-reaching updates into law including new voter ID requirements for mail-in voting, which, like when similar requirements have been imposed elsewhere, could unfairly impact disadvantaged voters who don’t have the required identification. Again: no systematic problems were discovered with Georgia’s previous balloting system, which relied on signature matching for the verification of mail-in votes.
The new corporate statement reads as follows:
‘We stand for democracy. A Government of the people, by the people. A beautifully American ideal, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history. As Americans, we know that in our democracy, we should not expect to agree on everything. However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice. For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us.’
Thus, they added:
‘We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot. Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.’
Check out their remarks by clicking into the post below:
WE STAND FOR DEMOCRACY — 100s of companies and exec sign this letter opposing "any discriminatory legislation." Ad appeared in the NYT and @washingtonpost today. w / @andrewrsorkin https://t.co/TSPtxjkWhR pic.twitter.com/bAtS8SyseB
— David Gelles (@dgelles) April 14, 2021
Signatories of the new statement include Amazon, Google, Starbucks, and Netflix, alongside Target, Bank of America, Apple, Cisco, Berkshire Partners, American Express, and Wells Fargo. Public figures including George Clooney, Paula Abdul, Mark Ruffalo, and Demi Lovato also signed on.
Republican state leaders have rolled out restrictive new legislative proposals in states across the country. These restrictions often have little to do with even addressing the imaginary fraud that some Republicans claim has plagued the electoral process. In Georgia, for instance, GOP state leaders have banned outside organizations from providing food and water to voters standing in line at polling places, no matter how long. It’s clearly pointless and cruel. Pretending like non-partisan voter support efforts like the delivery of water are suspicious is ridiculous.
