Pressure builds over restrictive voting bills in Texas
Democrats and voting rights advocates in Texas are putting pressure on the state’s largest businesses to speak out against pending legislation which they argue would disproportionately limit ballot access to voters of color. These businesses include AT&T, Pepsi, Toyota, Frito-Lay, and Southwest Airlines. State Republican leaders, including Governor Greg Abbott, have responded by criticizing corporations which have weighed-in on the issue of voting rights.Visit ABC News to learn more. Voter Education Week Young adults will be the nation’s largest voting bloc in the upcoming election and
The next Georgia: Texas and Arizona emerge as voting rights battlegrounds
Following the enactment of a new law in Georgia, which has been criticized for its potential to restrict access to the ballot box and suppress turnout among minority voters, Texas and Arizona are now emerging as the next states where fights over voting rights will take place. In Texas, legislation has been introduced which would ban drive-thru and 24-hour voting, prohibit election officials from mailing voters absentee ballot applications, and empower partisan poll watchers. In Arizona, legislation has been introduced which would make it
Corporate America is wading into the voting rights brawl. Here’s why.
In response to state Republican efforts to restrict voting access and threats of boycotts from voting rights activists, corporate America has begun issuing statements on the issue. Voting rights advocates argue that the corporate response to the coronavirus pandemic and racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd helped prepare corporations to weigh-in on voting rights. Activists are pleased with corporate statements criticizing Republican voting restriction bills, and are working to ensure that corporations take action. Republicans have rejected corporate criticism and may take
Corporations gave over $50M to voting restriction backers
A new report from Public Citizen, a government watchdog group, reveals that corporations have donated over $50 million to state lawmakers pushing voting restriction legislation since 2015. While this money may not have been given expressly to help pass voting restriction bills, it has played a key role over the years in securing Republican control of many state legislatures across the country. Many corporations have come out against voting restriction legislation, but have refused to commit to any specific action concerning their political donation
Major U.S. companies take aim at Georgia’s new voting restrictions
After facing pressure and backlash from voting rights groups, a number of major businesses are condemning the recent voting reform bill passed in Georgia. This CNBC report features a series of statements from corporate leaders criticizing the bill, including Delta, Coca-Cola, Porsche, UPS, and Home Depot, each of which are based in Georgia. In response to this criticism, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp argued that these companies are ignoring the actual content of the law, pointing to the provisions which expand access to the ballot