Watchdog: “If corporations truly value the right to vote, they can’t act complicit” 

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Washington, D.C. — Following the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of new voting rights legislation named in honor of the late voting rights champion Representative John Lewis, government watchdog Accountable.US released a new analysis showing that leading U.S. businesses that voiced public support for voter protections gave over $536,000 to key voting rights opponent Mitch McConnell. 

Despite signing onto a letter last month in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the affiliated PACs of sixteen major American corporations including Amazon, Facebook, Best Buy, Google, Microsoft, and Target gave tens of thousands each to the Senate Minority Leader’s campaign efforts — even after he established himself as a leading opponent of voting rights. 

“If corporations truly value the right to vote, they can’t be complicit as the organizations and lawmakers they support work to deny this fundamental right to millions of Americans, particularly the disabled and communities of color,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “Public declarations of support for federal voter protections mean nothing when corporations undermine those sentiments by failing to hold lawmakers and groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce accountable for promoting voter suppression. If corporations and their PACs continue to back those perpetuating Trump’s Big Lie, they owe their employees, shareholders, consumers, and communities an explanation for why they are not being honest and consistent with their publicly-stated values.”   

Notably, despite the cash influx from his corporate allies, McConnell told corporations in April 2021 that they should not to weigh in on Georgia’s latest voter suppression law, saying it would be “stupid” and warning of “serious consequences” — all before clarifying, “I’m not talking about political contributions.” 

In addition to their donations to McConnell, seven companies that signed onto the letter also remain members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce despite its decades-long history of funding voter suppression efforts, including its recent lobbying assault against the For the People Act earlier this year. 

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