Dozens of black business executives are calling on companies to stand united in opposition of Republican-backed election changes.
Seventy-two black executives signed on the letter, and signatories include Roger Ferguson Jr., the chief executive of TIAA; Mellody Hobson and John Rogers Jr., the co-chief executives of Ariel Investments; Robert F. Smith, the chief executive of Vista Equity Partners; and Raymond McGuire, a former Citigroup executive who is running for mayor of New York.
Kenneth Chenault, a former chief executive of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck, are spearheading the effort, according to the New York Times.
BRIAN KEMP SIGNS SWEEPING ELECTIONS BILL INTO LAW
“There is no middle ground here. You either are for more people voting, or you want to suppress the vote,” Chenault said. “This impacts all Americans, but we also need to acknowledge the history of voting rights for African-Americans. And as African American executives in corporate America, what we were saying is we want corporate America to understand that, and we want them to work with us.”
The letter comes as dozens of state legislatures are looking to change the way they run elections following 2020. Republicans, who often cite a drop in voter confidence, argue that states need to increase the security surrounding elections.
Conversely, liberal opponents of the bill accuse Republicans of trying to suppress voters, specifically minorities, and claim the push for such legislation is in response to oft-repeated false claims that undermined confidence in the 2020 election.
Last week, Georgia became the first state to enact an election reform bill following the 2020 election. Since then, two separate groups of liberal activist groups have filed lawsuits trying to stop its implementation.
The bill, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed last week, will expand early voting for primary and general elections but not for runoffs and would shorten the time period between a general election and a subsequent runoff if one were necessary. It would also change how voter identification works for mail-in voting and would alter the use of drop boxes, which would need to be placed inside voting places and would only be accessible when those locations are open.
Among other changes, the bill would give state officials authority to take over local election boards and would make it a crime to approach voters in line to give them food and water.
Frazier said he only “started paying attention” once Kemp signed the bill.
“There seems to be no one speaking out,” Frazier explained. “We thought if we spoke up, it might lead to a situation where others felt the responsibility to speak up.”
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The bill in Georgia and the subsequent backlash is a microcosm of what is happening across the country on a state and federal level. The House passed an election reform bill, but it would need a filibuster-proof majority of sixty votes to pass, and that is highly unlikely to occur.
