Activists Call On GA Corporations To Condemn Voting Bills

ATLANTA, GA — Two organizations are demanding some of Georgia's biggest corporations to speak up and condemn a series of bills in the state legislature that would put various restrictions on voting laws, which some activists say are renewed attempts to silence the voices of people of color.

Service Employees International Union Workers United and Progress Georgia launched a digital advertising campaign Monday, calling on six Georgia corporations — Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, AFLAC, Southern Company, Delta Airlines and UPS — to publicly condemn the dozen of "racist voter suppression bills" moving through the Georgia General Assembly, including the two with significant momentum: Senate Bill 241 and House Bill 531, according to a Monday press release.

The two organizations also called on these corporations to halt political contributions to any lawmakers who vote for any of the bills. The ad campaign will be releasing new spots throughout the week. Patch has reached out to several of these corporations for comment.

"Georgia currently has about a dozen voter suppression bills in the state House and Senate designed to silence Black, Latino and AAPI [Asian American/Pacific Islander] voters, including two of the worst voter suppression bills in the nation: SB 241 and HB 531," the release said. "The social media and display ads call out Georgia corporations for spending months running public message campaigns claiming to support Georgians’ freedom to vote, but then staying silent when GOP lawmakers — who have received tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from these corporations — are leading this assault on Black, Latino and AAPI voters."

Delta Airlines provided the following statement in regard to this callout:

“We continue to engage with state lawmakers on this issue, including House leadership and the governor. Delta’s shared values call on us to make our voices heard and be engaged members of our communities, of which voting is a vital part of that responsibility. Ensuring an election system that promotes broad voter participation, equal access to the polls, and fair, secure elections processes are critical to voter confidence and creates an environment that ensures everyone's vote is counted.”

A spokesperson for Home Depot issued the following statement to Patch as well:

"We believe that all elections should be accessible, fair and secure and support broad voter participation. We’ll continue to work to ensure our associates, both in Georgia and across the country, have the information and resources to vote.

"For example, we promoted voter participation in the last election through our internal Get Out The Vote initiative, confirming 15,500 voter registrations among our associates. In addition, we matched more than 1,800 associates with local opportunities to volunteer at polling locations across the country, including 600 technology worker volunteers in Atlanta to support complex technology issues and cybersecurity related to the election. We also donated 9,200 plexiglass dividers across Georgia to help meet poll station safety requirements."

Additionally, Coca-Cola sent Patch a statement:

"Voting is a foundational right in America, and we will continue to work to advance voting rights and access in Georgia and across the country. We support efforts by the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce to help facilitate a balanced approach to the elections bills that have been introduced in the Georgia Legislature this session. The ultimate goal should be fair, secure elections where access to voting is broad-based and inclusive."

Earlier this month, the Atlanta news organization Popular Information reported that these six companies and several others donated millions of dollars since 2018 to Georgia lawmakers promoting SB 241 and HB 531, which each propose a rollback of voter access.

RELATED: Restrictive GA Election Bills: Lawmakers' Donors Face Protest

HB 531 proposes new restrictions on voting, including limiting the use of ballot drop boxes to return ballots, requiring a photo ID to return an absentee ballot and scaling back opportunities for early voting, particularly on weekends.

In the Senate, SB 241 shares similar changes to voting laws as HB 531, but also eliminates no-excuse mail-in voting. It would only allow mail-in voting — which has been available since 2005 — in limited circumstances, such as physical disability or travel.

“The motivations behind these voter suppression bills is clear: after Black and brown voters proved our power in 2020, Georgia Republicans want to take that power away,” said Mia Arreguin, executive director of Progress Georgia. “These vote suppressors realize they can’t win when we all vote, so they’re trying to change the rules."

The statewide ad campaign will "work to inform voters and corporations' employees about their silence through paid media targeting and texting programs," the release said. Several ads ask Georgians to sign petitions demanding the six companies publicly oppose the bills, and will ask residents to email and call a list of legislators demanding that they, too, oppose SB 241 and HB 531.

"Our money supports the companies that are funding their political campaigns, and they are staying silent as these white supremacist bills move through the state legislature," Arreguin said. "You're either speaking against racism or you're for it. It's time for these corporations to act.”

Several ads also say that "Black buying power contributes more than $106 billion to Georgia businesses every year," and this money shouldn't go to politicians who "are working to suppress their votes with racist bills."

“These corporations talk a big game about racial justice. But if the companies that profit from Black and brown people claim they back all Georgians, then they have to show up now when it counts,” said Chris Baumann, southern region director of SEIU Workers United.