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Over 150 companies, including Amazon
AMZN,
Google
GOOGL,
and Facebook
FB,
called on Congress to pass voting rights legislation in a letter published Wednesday.
The 2020 election “highlighted deep inequities in how our elections are run,” the letter reads. “Despite decades of progress, impediments to exercising the right to vote persist in many states, especially for communities of color. We need federal protections to safeguard this fundamental right for all Americans.”
The companies expressed support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, an amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 named for former Rep. Lewis, who died last year. The amendment would help prevent voting discrimination and establish an improved system for states to report changes to election law.
“Legislation amending the Voting Rights Act must help ensure that voters of color who remain
the targets of voter suppression have equal and unfettered access to the democratic process,” the letter reads.
The companies are part of the Business for Voting Rights group and collectively employee four million people. Many of the companies have been continually outspoken about voting rights following the 2020 election as states across the country enact laws restricting access to the polls. Other signatories include Apple
AAPL,
Target
TGT,
Patagonia, Tesla
TSLA,
and PepsiCo
PEP,
Chip Bergh, president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co
LEVI,
another signatory, wrote in prepared remarks that the business community has a duty “to work until every American can participate in our democracy.”
“The only way to preserve and repair our fragile democracy is to collectively fight for our rights, to fight for each other,” he wrote. “It’s what John Lewis did, and what we must do too.”
The letter comes at a time when 17 states have enacted 28 new laws that restrict voting access, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, with more being considered.
Texas Democrats made news this week for fleeing the state in order to delay the passage of sweeping voting restrictions during a special session. More than 50 state lawmakers made their way to Washington, D.C., to push Congress to pass federal protections for voting access.
The lawmakers have said they plan to stay out of the state until the special session ends in August.
