Corporations, unlike leaders in Texas, step up for voters

Voting has consequences. Making it harder for people to vote for no legitimate reason also should have consequences.

Georgia is learning this bitter lesson, and Texas is about to be schooled, too.

Last week, responding to passage of a package of bills that makes voting more restrictive in Georgia, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced this summer’s All-star Game is scheduled to be pulled from Atlanta.

Manfred’s decision wasn’t remarkable, but the speed in making it was. In Major League Baseball, the level of political activism among players is nowhere near that of the NBA and NFL. Also, Stacey Abrams, the force and face behind Georgia’s voter registration efforts that so frightened Georgia Republican legislators, said before and after Manfred’s announcement that she hoped the All-star Game would stay in Atlanta.

Manfred made a principled decision with little consultation from MLB owners. He distinguished himself in a way that two corporations associated with Atlanta, Delta Airlines and Coco-cola, didn’t. Both remained silent as the legislation — which many believe will make it harder for some people to vote while also transferring power from state and local election officials to legislators — sped through the Georgia General Assembly to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for signature.

Only after the fact, when the damage had been done, after criticism from activists and customers, and after a coalition of prominent Black business executives urged corporations across the country to speak up, did the CEOS of Delta and Coca-cola denounce the restrictive voting measures springing up across the country.

Here in Texas, corporations were silent as the Texas Senate passed SB 7, which imposes a host of restrictive voting rules in a state that already is one of the most voting-restrictive in the country. This legislation is being pushed by Republicans despite testimony last month from Keith Ingram, director of elections for the Texas Secretary of State, that the election was smooth and secure. Local county elections officials were praised for their “hard work and creativity.”

That’s a problem for Texas Republicans, because SB 7 and HB 6 are designed to end that creativity by local county officials and would have a disproportionately harmful impact on people of color and people with disabilities.

But as the bill moved to the House for debate, Texas-based corporations such as American Airlines, Dell Technologies, Southwest Airlines and AT&T have spoken out forcefully against this votersuppression legislation.

In a Twitter post, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell wrote, “Free, fair, equitable access to voting is the foundation of American democracy. Those rights — especially for women and communities of color — have been hard-earned. Governments should ensure citizens have their voices heard. HB6 does the opposite, and we are opposed to it.” In its statement, American Airlines said, “Any legislation dealing with how elections are conducted must ensure ballot integrity and security while making it easier to vote, not harder. At American, we believe we should break down barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion in our society-not create them.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick reacted to American Airlines speaking out by saying, “Texans are fed up with corporations that don’t share our values trying to dictate public policy.”

Will Patrick demand American take its un-texan values, jobs and revenue out of Dallas, where it has been headquartered since 1979 and go elsewhere?

His tone echoes Kemp, who has slammed MLB, Delta and Coca-cola. It’s fascinating to hear probusiness, free enterprise Republican politicians blast corporations for making statements and decisions that reflect the best interests of their companies, financially and morally.

It’s as if these politicians only want to hear from voters and business leaders who agree with them. We hope that corporations opposed to voter suppression continue to speak out with the same intensity with which they opposed Patrick’s bathroom bill in 2017. San Antonio is set to host the NCAA men’s Final Four in 2025. Does SB 7 and voter suppression threaten that?

A city isn’t entitled to a sports franchise or an All-star game, and a state isn’t entitled to a corporation’s headquarters.

But what every qualified American citizen is entitled to is the right to vote without hardships and impediments imposed on them for partisan gain.