Church leaders seek Home Depot boycott on voting law
A group of religious leaders is calling for a boycott of Georgia-based Home Depot, saying the home improvement giant hasn’t done enough to oppose the state’s new voting laws.
African Methodist Episcopal Bishop Reginald Jackson said the company has remained “silent and indifferent” to his efforts to rally opposition to the new state law pushed by Republicans, as well as to similar efforts elsewhere.
“We just don’t think we ought to let their indifference stand,” Jackson said.
The leader of all his denomination’s churches in Georgia, Jackson met last week with other Georgiabased executives to urge them to oppose the voting law. But he said he’s had no contact with Home Depot, despite repeated efforts to reach the company.
Home Depot spokesperson Margaret Smith said the company has helped employees register to vote, helped employees work at polling stations and provided plexiglass dividers for polling stations.
“We’ve decided that the most appropriate approach for us to take is to continue to underscore our statement 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,” Smith said in a statement.
The company is Georgia’s largest by revenue, profit and employees.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp called the boycott “absolutely ridiculous” on Twitter. At a news conference later, he said Jackson was a “partisan” and his call for a boycott unfairly “targeted” workers at Home Depot.
“They did not ask to be in this political fight,” Kemp said. He added, “This insanity needs to stop.”
Opponents of the new law say it will restrict voting. It requires proof of identification to request an absentee ballot, cuts days for requesting an absentee ballot, shortens early voting before runoff elections, limits drop boxes, allows the state to take over local election offices and bars people from handing out food and water to voters within 150 feet (45 meters) of a polling place.
Supporters say the bill was demanded by Republican voters alarmed by former President Donald Trump’s claims about fraud and makes absentee balloting more secure, provides a permanent legal basis for drop boxes and expands mandatory weekend early voting days.