More than a hundred top executives and corporate leaders gathered online this weekend to discuss their response to restrictive voting laws that have been considered in several states and have already been enacted in Georgia, according to a statement from the meeting’s organizers.
The statement did not identify the participants, but The Washington Post reported that the meeting included executives from major airlines, retailers and manufacturers and at least one NFL owner.
Without giving details, the statement – issued by the Yale School of Management and two other civic groups – noted that “CEOs are willing to act individually and collectively to uplift American democracy and ensure that Americans have access to a world-class voting system. ‘
According to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of management at Yale and one of the organizers, such actions could include stopping donations to politicians who support the bills and even delaying investments in countries that take the restrictive measures.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources who attended, reported that Kenneth Chenault, former CEO of American Express Co., and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., had asked dozens of leaders to join forces. call for greater access to the voice. Chenault and Frazier have warned businesses to drop the issue and asked CEOs to sign a statement opposing their discriminatory voting legislation.
The new statement could come earlier this week and would build on one that 72 black executives signed last month following changes to Georgian voting rights, according to the newspaper’s report.
A number of companies and their leaders have been talking about the issue in recent weeks. While Republican lawmakers like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Have mocked such actions, many activists and others say big business has not gone far enough.
More than 350 different bills are being considered in dozens of states, according to a version of the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy think tank.
The Journal reported that some executives at the call described some bills as racist or restrictive, and that several participants described their efforts as critical of democracy, rather than biased.
Although many companies have indicated their support for a statement or further action, some remain reluctant to comment on a politically charged case.