Hundreds of companies, headlined by Amazon and Google, signed a letter decrying any legislation that would “restrict” voters from having “an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.”
The letter, published in both the New York Times and Washington Post’s Wednesday print editions, is the latest in a string of similar statements from various private companies. Nearly all of them have come out against Republican-backed proposals to change election laws in states across the country.
Others who signed the advertisement include General Motors, Netflix, Starbucks, BlackRock, Target, Facebook, Bank of America, MasterCard, and United Airlines.
“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,” it reads. “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.”
Kenneth Chenault, a former chief executive of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck, organized the letter. This is the second type of letter the two have spearheaded, the first of which came last month and was signed by 72 black executives.
Wednesday’s letter does not specify any specific state’s bill or any specific change that they are against.
“We are not being prescriptive,” Chenault said, according to the New York Times. “There is no one answer.”
Frazier explained that the letter avoided specifics because they wanted the letter to appear nonpartisan, saying that what they’re talking about “are not political issues.”
“For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us,” the newest letter reads. “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 non-partisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.”
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked companies for getting involved with politics, first saying that such organizations “will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs” before walking the tone back the next day.
“I didn’t say that very artfully yesterday,” he said at an event last Tuesday. “[Corporations] certainly [are] entitled to be involved in politics. They are. My principal complaint is they didn’t read the darn bill.“
Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and Home Depot, all three of which spoke out against the election-reform bill signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, didn’t sign the letter.
In recent months, there have been battles on both a state and federal level for election reform, with each party looking to enact its own version. Iowa, Texas, and Georgia all passed legislation favored by Republicans while New Jersey enacted laws backed by its Democratically-controlled state Legislature and governor.
Republicans often promote strengthening voter identification laws and limiting no-excuse voting-by-mail. A recurring talking point from the GOP is that they want to “make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
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Critics of the Republicans’ push for election reform often point to former President Donald Trump’s repeated and unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud that would have overturned the election had it not occurred. Additionally, Democrats say that their Republican counterparts are buying into the belief that the elections need to be changed to be secure, which they argue is premised on the former president’s inaccurate repeated statements.
Conversely, Democrats often promote limiting voter ID laws, which they argue make it harder for minorities and poor people to vote, and they frequently call for automatic voter registration.
