Protesters gather outside the Georgia State Capitol to protest against HB 531, which will place stricter restrictions on voting in Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March 4, 2021.
Dustin Chambers | Reuters
U.S. companies are facing public pressure under increasing pressure and threats from boycotts of Republican-backed electoral legislation in Georgia and other states, which critics say is undermining the voting rights of black Americans.
Opposition increased on Friday when Major League Baseball announced it would no longer host the 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta this summer. Commissioner Robert Manfred said the league “fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes ballot box restrictions.”
GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last week signed an election review bill that adds new identification requirements for the absence of votes, while the state legislature gives greater oversight of the way elections are conducted.
The legislation prohibits third-party groups from giving food or water to voters waiting in line and laying down strict guidelines on the availability and location of ballot papers. It also requires two Saturdays of early voting leading up to general elections. Only one day was needed before.
Civil rights groups and activists have put pressure on some of Georgia’s largest businesses, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, to break the law. Coke and Delta did not explicitly oppose the legislation before it was passed, but their CEOs have since condemned the law.
Following the bill, pressure on companies began to increase after Merck CEO Ken Frazier and other black executives organized a public campaign to encourage companies to pass legislation. Many companies have taken broad views in support of voting rights, but try to avoid taking specific views on Georgia legislation.
It is unclear whether a setback from the business community will change the outcome in Georgia, where the law was passed. Civil rights groups have disputed this in court and President Joe Biden has said the US Department of Justice will investigate the law, which he calls an ‘atrocity’.
Coke CEO James Quincey told CNBC on Wednesday that the company was “always opposed to this legislation” and called it “wrong”.
“Now that it’s over, we’ll get more public out,” Quincey said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian initially said the legislation had “significantly improved” and provided broad support for voting rights. He reversed his course on Wednesday in a memorandum to the employee, saying the final bill was unacceptable and did not match Delta’s values. Delta is the largest employer in Georgia.
Bastian also tore up Republican lawmakers’ motivation for the law, suggesting that the “complete reason for this bill is based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 election.”
In November, Biden becomes the first Democrat since 1992 to win Georgia. Voters also elected two Democrats in the Senate, Sen. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, in the January election. Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have falsely claimed there was rampant voter fraud in Georgia’s election last year.
AT&T is based in Texas, but donated money to Kemp’s campaign and lawmakers. John Stankey, CEO of the company, said in a statement to CNBC:
“We understand that election laws are complicated, not the expertise of our company and ultimately the responsibility of elected officials. But as a company, we are responsible for getting involved. For this reason, we work with other businesses through groups such as the Business Roundtable in support of efforts to improve each person’s voting ability. “
In an interview Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Kemp rejected the company’s setback over state election legislation and said he was “happy to deal with it.” He added: “I would encourage these chief executives to look at other states in which they do business and which compare the actual facts with Georgia.”
Georgia suffrage activist and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams this week urged critics not to do so. the major companies in Georgia are boycotting their failure to oppose the election law. Instead, Abrams said companies should have a chance to oppose the law in public and support federal election legislation before facing a boycott.
“The companies that stood still during the debate or reacted during the debate were wrong,” Abrams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “What people want to know now is where they stand on this fundamental issue of suffrage.”
Some religious leaders in Georgia have called for a boycott of Coke, Delta and Home Depot on April 7, according to the AJC. However, the religious leaders suggested that the boycott could be avoided if the businesses took further positions, such as calling on lawmakers in other states to make legislative proposals that they believe would restrict access to the vote.
Texas Election Bills Examined
While Georgia law is being signed, election bills are beginning to be explored in a number of other states, most notably Texas. Merck’s Frazier said Georgia ‘is at the forefront of a movement across this country to restrict access to the vote’, when he put pressure on companies to speak out.
There were 361 bills in 47 states that contained provisions that could restrict access to voting rights, as of March 24, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The proposals in state houses across the U.S. come as Democrats in Washington seek to advance legislation called the For the People Act. Proponents say it will make it easier to register and vote, and will also prevent the rules of campaign funding from being managed. Some Republicans who oppose the legislation say it will lead to federal exaggerated state elections.
Last month, the US House passed its version of the For the People Act without a single Republican voting in favor. The future in the Senate is uncertain, as he needs at least 10 GOP votes to overcome a filibuster and move to a final vote.
Power corporations in Texas are also considering bills that, according to advocates of suffrage, will make voting in Texas more difficult.
Senate Bill 7 was approved by the state legislature on Thursday. In the House of Representatives in Texas, another bill known as House Bill 6 was considered.
American Airlines, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, opposed Bill 7 in a statement against Senate on Thursday. “To clarify the position of American: we are strongly against this bill and others of it,” the airline said.
Dell CEO Michael Dell – whose technology firm is located near Austin, the state capital, wrote in a tweet that the company does not support House Bill 6.
“Free, fair, equitable access to voting is the foundation of American democracy. These rights – especially for women, communities of color – are very deserving,” Dell wrote. “Governments must ensure that citizens make their voices heard. HB6 does the opposite, and we are opposed to it.”