ThinkCivics News
An educated citizenry is a vital requisite
for our survival as a free people.
Join ThinkCivics+
  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Health
  • US News
  • Faith
  • Science & Tech
  • World News
No Result
View All Result
ThinkCivics News
  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Health
  • US News
  • Faith
  • Science & Tech
  • World News
Join ThinkCivics+
No Result
View All Result
ThinkCivics News
Join TC+
Home US News

Civil rights groups urge companies to join fight against Georgia voting restrictions

Voting rights groups are calling on companies such as Coca-Cola Co and Delta Air Lines Inc to oppose efforts by Republican lawmakers in Georgia to enact sweeping new restrictions on voting access in the battleground state.

ThinkCivics Newswire by ThinkCivics Newswire
March 5, 2021
in US News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
0
Voting Access Bill Sparks Controversy In Georgia

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 03: Demonstrators stand outside of the Georgia Capitol building, to oppose the HB 531 bill on March 3, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. HB 531 will add controversial voting restrictions to the state's upcoming elections including restricting ballot drop boxes, requiring an ID requirement for absentee voting and limiting weekend early voting days. The Georgia House passed the bill and will send it to the Senate. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Voting rights groups are calling on companies such as Coca-Cola Co and Delta Air Lines Inc to oppose efforts by Republican lawmakers in Georgia to enact sweeping new restrictions on voting access in the battleground state.

The organizations, including Black Voters Matter, the New Georgia Project and the Georgia NAACP, launched a campaign on social media and in local news outlets this week asking the corporations to take a stand against legislation they said aims to curb turnout from Democratic-leaning Black voters.

Black voters were crucial to helping elect Democrat President Joe Biden in the November election and two Democratic senators in a January run-off in Georgia, a once unthinkable scenario in the traditionally Republican southern state.

“Some of these companies have made beautiful statements for Black Lives Matter,” said Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, a group focused on increasing Black Americans’ voting access. “Yet here, in the moment where it matters most, they have been silent.”

Republicans in Georgia and across the country are using former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud to back state-level voting changes they say are needed to restore election integrity.

Republicans asked the U.S. Supreme Court this week to uphold voting restrictions in Arizona in a case that could further hobble the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting.

They also opposed an election reform bill passed on Wednesday by the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. The For the People Act, the most comprehensive voting bill since the 1965 act, faces long odds in the Senate, with Republicans saying it fails to do enough to combat fraud.

In Georgia, likely one of the biggest battlegrounds in the 2022 elections with a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s office on the ballot, Republican state lawmakers sponsoring the voting measures maintain they are meant to safeguard elections.

A bill passed by the Republican-controlled Georgia House on Monday would restrict ballot drop boxes, tighten absentee voting requirements and limit early voting on Sundays, curtailing traditional “Souls to the Polls” voter turnout programs in Black churches.

FULL-PAGE ADS

Some voting rights groups have increased their focus on corporations based in Georgia after Popular Information, an online politics newsletter run by Judd Legum, a former aide to Democrat Hillary Clinton, cited campaign finance records popular.info/p/georgia showing the companies had donated around $7.4 million since 2018 to politicians sponsoring the voting legislation.

The groups took out several full-page ads in local newspapers urging Delta, Coca-Cola, Southern Company, Home Depot Inc, United Parcel Service Inc and Aflac Inc to stop the donations and support federal voting rights reform.

Albright said the groups will encourage Georgia residents to call the companies and that protests could be organized in front of their offices.

In statements to Reuters, Coca-Cola, UPS, Delta, Home Depot and Aflac said they were committed to voter rights but did not provide specifics about their stance on the Georgia bills or their future political donations.

Coca-Cola said it paused political donations in January, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The company added that it supported efforts to “help facilitate a balanced approach” to the voting bills. Aflac also said it paused all political donations in January.

Delta said it had not made any individual contributions to Georgia House or Senate candidates in 2020.

UPS and Coca-Cola said they were working with local commerce chambers on voting rights issues. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce did not comment on ongoing talks, referring Reuters to a Feb. 16 statement in which the group said it believed it should be “easy to vote, hard to commit fraud.”

Southern Company declined to comment.

U.S. companies in general are becoming more reticent about the exposure that comes with political donations, said Donald Green, a political science professor at Columbia University.

“This will give them yet another excuse to back away from that type of contribution,” Green said.

Georgia’s Republican Party did not respond to a request for comment on voting rights groups’ efforts to enlist companies’ help in fighting the bills.

Read: Without Unity, America Will Fall

The Georgia proposals have drawn scrutiny from More Than A Vote, a voter rights organization founded by LeBron James.

The group, which has supported athlete demonstrations in the past, tweeted it was teaming up with the NBA and the Georgia NAACP “to take on voter suppression” at this weekend’s All-Star game in Atlanta.

Written by Alexandra Ulmer; Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Aurora Ellis, REUTERS

This article was originally published on Reuters.com. Read the original article.

ThinkCivics Newswire

ThinkCivics researches, examines, and reports on issues that matter most. We deliver explanative, fearless, and insightful analysis for public consumption.

thinkcivics.com
Tags: GeorgiaVoting Rights

Related Posts

Justice Clarence Thomas Cements ‘Legend’ Status With One Very On-Point Quip About the MSM

Justice Clarence Thomas Cements ‘Legend’ Status With One Very On-Point Quip About the MSM

May 16, 2022
Joe Biden’s Hypocrisy on Mass Killings Is Morally Depraved

Joe Biden’s Hypocrisy on Mass Killings Is Morally Depraved

May 16, 2022

Kamala Harris Manages to Spin a Word Salad That Even Biden Would Envy

May 14, 2022

Bill Maher Takes Apart Jen Psaki and the WH Over Abortion Protest Response

May 14, 2022
Load More
Next Post
Can the US Adopt Renewable Energy Sources While Protecting the Electric Grid Against Threats?

Can the US Adopt Renewable Energy Sources While Protecting the Electric Grid Against Threats?

U.S. adds a strong 379,000 jobs in hopeful sign for economy

U.S. adds a strong 379,000 jobs in hopeful sign for economy

Migrants at the border between Mexico and the USA

Photos: Migrant group wearing Biden shirts try to cross US/Mexican border

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

  • Surprise! America’s ‘leading cause of death’ identified

    Surprise! America’s ‘leading cause of death’ identified

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • COVID Vaccine Bombshells You Probably Missed

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Legacy Media Credibility Takes Another Hit as Major Rumor About Justice Alito Is Confirmed

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • White House Admits It Lied About Vaccines

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Protesters block, attack truck and horse trailer, driver runs them over

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

The most disturbing thing about Biden’s new Minister of Truth that the media is not telling you

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 10, 2022
0
The most disturbing thing about Biden’s new Minister of Truth that the media is not telling you
National Security

The Biden Administration’s new “Disinformation Governance Board” has mostly attracted attention for the ridiculous Harry Potter/Mary Poppins superfan chosen to...

Read more

This little-known nation could be China’s perfect wedge to overtake the USA

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 7, 2022
0
This little-known nation could be China’s perfect wedge to overtake the USA
National Security

We've got a problem in our own back patio.  Actually, we have our own Ukraine, complete with Russian tanks, China jockeying for...

Read more

Claim: Trump Secretly Wanted To Bomb Cartel Drug Labs In Mexico

by The Political Insider
May 7, 2022
0
Claim: Trump Secretly Wanted To Bomb Cartel Drug Labs In Mexico
National Security

Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper claims Donald Trump inquired on at least two occasions about secretly bombing illegal cartel...

Read more

6 Dystopian Things Biden’s ‘Disinformation Board’ Pick Nina Jankowicz Has Done

by The Federalist
May 4, 2022
0
6 Dystopian Things Biden’s ‘Disinformation Board’ Pick Nina Jankowicz Has Done
National Security

Mere days after eccentric billionaire Elon Musk’s buyout of Twitter sent the political censors into a tizzy, the Biden administration...

Read more
Bezos Goes After Biden Again on Twitter, Busting Him Bad
Economy

Bezos Goes After Biden Again on Twitter, Busting Him Bad

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 15, 2022
0

We may be seeing the beginning of the elite throwing Joe Biden under the bus. I wrote on Saturday about...

Read more
Economists at Federal Reserve bank debunk popular Dem narrative about record-high gas prices
Economy

Economists at Federal Reserve bank debunk popular Dem narrative about record-high gas prices

by The Blaze
May 13, 2022
0

Economists at the Federal Reserve of Dallas published analysis this week debunking a popular claim that Democrats make against oil companies. What...

Read more
Biden Administration’s Response and Priorities re: Baby Formula Shortage Are Disturbingly out of Whack
Economy

Biden Administration’s Response and Priorities re: Baby Formula Shortage Are Disturbingly out of Whack

by RedState
May 12, 2022
0

There’s currently a nationwide shortage of baby formula. That’s making some families desperate to find it for their babies. Fox’s...

Read more
Joe Biden Has Another Old Man Meltdown, Starts Yelling About Food Shortages Happening While He’s President
Economy

Joe Biden Has Another Old Man Meltdown, Starts Yelling About Food Shortages Happening While He’s President

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 12, 2022
0

Reset the "days since" calendar. Joe Biden had another old man meltdown, two months to the day of his last classic...

Read more
Facebook Twitter RSS

Brilliantly

SAFE!

thinkcivics.com

Content & Links

Verified by Sur.ly

2022

Recent News

  • Justice Clarence Thomas Cements ‘Legend’ Status With One Very On-Point Quip About the MSM
  • Joe Biden’s Hypocrisy on Mass Killings Is Morally Depraved
  • Surprise! America’s ‘leading cause of death’ identified

Category

  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Faith
  • Health
  • Immigration
  • Military
  • National Security
  • Politics
  • Science & Tech
  • US News
  • Videos
  • World News

© 2022 ThinkCivics Media. All Rights Reserved.

  • Login
  • Sign Up
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Join
  • Contribute

© 2022 ThinkCivics Media. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.