More companies pushing back against restrictive voting laws

Hundreds of major companies and corporate leaders signed a statement released Wednesday that opposes laws that restrict voting rights, the latest step in an escalating battle over election laws being debated nationwide.

The letter included support from recognizable corporate names such as Target, Netflix, Bank of America, Facebook, Cisco, Twitter, Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Mastercard, American Airlines, United Airlines and Vanguard, as well as prominent people such as investor Warren Buffett, law firms and nonprofit organizations.

But the statement was also notable for the names that were missing, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola two companies that earlier this month were among the first to oppose new voting rules in their home state of Georgia.

The statement and its signatories were listed under the banner, “We Stand for Democracy.” It was published Wednesday as an ad in The Washington Post, the New York Times and other major newspapers.

The current crop of voting measures is fueled by lingering animosity over the last presidential election, when baseless accusations of voter fraud resulted in Republican officials pushing for restrictive new laws.

The statement was discussed by corporate leaders last weekend, when more than 100 executives from major retailers, airlines and manufacturers gathered via Zoom to discuss further actions they might take against restrictive state voting bills, including halting donations to politicians who support them or delaying investments in states that pass these measures.

On the Zoom call, Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck, told the executives that it was important to keep fighting what they viewed as discriminatory laws on voting.

Chenault and Frazier coordinated a letter signed last month by 72 Black business executives that made a similar point — a letter that first drew attention to the voting bills in executive suites across the country.

The two men also asked the corporate leaders to sign onto the letter published Wednesday.

“Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy,” the statement reads, “and we call upon all Americans to take a nonpartisan stand for this basic and most fundamental right of all Americans.”

Debra Lee, the former chief executive of Black Entertainment Television who currently sits on four corporate boards, said she and other people who lent their names to the statement viewed the voting laws as a civil rights issue, not a partisan one.

“The legislation is so egregious and so targeted as to keep certain types of people from voting — I think it’s wonderful that Corporate America is taking a stand,” Lee said.

Dozens of law firms also signed the statement, representing a growing effort to fight restrictive voting laws in court. Among the firms listed were Squire, Patton, Boggs; Cravath, Swaine and Moore; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld; and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison.

The statement also revealed a split between corporate leaders and their companies.

Reid Hoffman, the cofounder and former chairman of LinkedIn, signed the statement, but LinkedIn did not. Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi was listed, but not Uber. Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons owner and co-founder of Home Depot, which he left as co-chairman in 2001, signed, but Home Depot is missing.

Uber said Khosrowshahi represents the company, as well.

“We were never intending for there to be any distinction,” an Uber spokesman said, also noting that Uber Chief Legal Officer Tony West had been one of the original statement signers.

In a statement, Home Depot said “we’ve decided that the most appropriate approach for us to take is to continue to underscore our belief that all elections should be accessible, fair and secure and support broad voter participation, and to continue to work to ensure our associates in Georgia and across the country have the information and resources to vote.”

There was also a smattering of celebrities — some have their own companies — included on the statement, such as Naomi Campbell, Tracee Ellis Ross, Katy Perry and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The fight over new voting laws is expected to continue, with lawmakers in more than two dozens states looking at passing new restrictions.