Hollywood Icons, Mega-Corporations, Business Titans Team Up to Bash GA Voting Laws in Brutal Open Letter Published By NYT and WaPo
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Hundreds of Hollywood stars, major corporations and top executives signed a statement released Wednesday opposing Georgia’s new voting laws.
The open letter, printed in The New York Times and The Washington Post, was organized by former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier. It emerged following a Zoom call with more than 100 corporate leaders from major retailers, airlines and manufacturers.
Corporate signatories included the likes of Target, Netflix, Bank of America, Facebook, Cisco, Twitter, Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Mastercard, American Airlines, United Airlines and ViacomCBS, in addition to dozens of nonprofit organizations and law firms.
There was also plenty of star power behind the letter. George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sacha Baron Cohen, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, Samuel L. Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kerry Washington were just a few of the celebrities who lended their A-list names to the cause.
Meanwhile, business titans such as Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg and David Geffen also signed the statement.
The letter, titled “We Stand for Democracy,” begins, “A beautifully American ideal, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history. As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything. However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice.”
The statement continues, “For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us. We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.”
It further reads, “Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.”
Georgia’s new election laws have been widely condemned as a form of voter suppression, particularly for Black Americans. State lawmakers passed the new rules in the wake of President Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump by a narrow margin in Georgia in the 2020 election.
The new restrictions include shortening the deadline for absentee ballots, requiring identification for absentee voters and limiting the use of drop boxes.
