Voting bills put pressure on big companies
On Friday, executives from more than 170 companies — including Dow, HP and Estee Lauder — joined the corporate push to protect voting access not only in Georgia but in states across the country, writing in a statement that “our elections are not improved when lawmakers impose barriers that result in longer lines at the polls or that reduce access to secure ballot dropboxes.”
“There are hundreds of bills threatening to make voting more difficult in dozens of states nationwide,” the companies said in the statement, which also included signatures from the CEOs of Target, Salesforce and ViacomCBS.
“We call on elected leaders in every state capitol and in Congress to work across the aisle and ensure that every eligible American has the freedom to easily cast their ballot and participate fully in our democracy.”
In a Fox News interview on Thursday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp compared early-voting rules in Georgia to other states and defended his state’s controversial measure.
“They’re not going to get back on board because they’ve been pressured by their board of directors, who have been pressured by these activists. And there’s nothing I can do about that.”
He also said: “They’ll have to answer to their shareholders. There’s a lot of people that work for them and have done business with them who are very upset,” and added, “We are not going to back down when we have a bill that expands the opportunity for people to vote on the weekends in Georgia.”
After initially mild criticism of the measure, which was signed into law last week, companies scrambled to issue more forceful statements. James Quincey, the CEO of Coca-Cola, described the bill as “wrong” and “a step backward.” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian offered up an abrupt change in tone, calling the legislation “unacceptable” and contrary to the company’s values.
Those statements won guarded praise from activists — as well as calls for more concrete action. “Delta’s statement finally tells the truth — even if it’s late,” Nsé Ufot, head of the activist group New Georgia Project Action Fund, said.
For weeks, activists and civil liberties groups had been complaining about the proposed changes to Georgia’s voting laws — long before companies took serious notice.
At first, the corporate reaction was mostly muted. The Georgia U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a statement expressing “concern and opposition.”
But on Wednesday, an open letter from 72 Black executives seemed to open the floodgates. The letter said the new Georgia voting bill would make it “unquestionably” harder for Black voters in particular to vote. The letter also said, “The stakes for our democracy are too high to remain on the sidelines.”
Executives from the companies that made Friday’s statement acknowledged these leaders, saying they “stand in solidarity with voters and with the Black executives and leaders at the helm of this movement.”
“What we have heard from corporations is general statements about their support for voting rights and against voter suppression. But now we’re asking, put those words into action,” Kenneth Chenault, managing director and chairman of venture capital firm General Catalyst and the former CEO of American Express, who helped organize the letter from the Black executives, said in a CNBC interview.
The letter probably provided cover for other executives to take a more forceful stand, said Doug Schuler, a professor at Rice University’s business school who studies the intersection of businesses and public policy.
“A lot of companies follow the leader. They don’t want to stick out,” Schuler said. “But now, it’s painful to stick out.”
The flood of corporate statements in recent days has stopped short of canceling projects or scaling back financial commitments in Georgia.
Microsoft, for example, has not changed its plans for a major hub in the South’s economic capital — despite the company’s president, Brad Smith, issuing a list of problems with the new Georgia law, which supporters said was needed to shore up confidence in the state’s elections but critics said would make it harder for many people, especially minorities, to cast ballots.