Corporate America Bankrolls Voter Suppression
Corporations and Industry Trade Associations Have Given More Nearly $90 Million to State Lawmakers Supporting Anti-Voter Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Some of the biggest names in corporate America are backing state lawmakers who are pushing bills to make it more difficult to vote, a new Public Citizen report shows.
Corporations have contributed $50 million since 2015 to state legislators supporting anti-voter bills, including $22 million over the past two years, according to the report, “The Corporate Sponsors of Voter Suppression.” Meanwhile, industry trade groups have contributed another $36 million to these state legislators.
The anti-voter bills included in the report’s analysis would do such things as shorten early-voting periods, cancel voting on Sundays, severely constrain mail-in voting, reduce the number of drop boxes for ballots, criminalize the act of providing food and water to voters waiting in line, and even authorize the state legislature to overturn the results of a presidential election, altogether.
“Corporate leaders cannot credibly claim to love America while also giving contributions to lawmakers who are supporting thinly veiled attempts to suppress the vote, especially among people of color,” said Public Citizen Executive Vice President Lisa Gilbert. “The only acceptable action for corporations to take is to stop giving to supporters of these bills, forever.”
Among the other findings of the report.
- Three-fourths companies that paused some or all political contributions in response to the January 6 Capitol insurrection have contributed to state legislators who are supporting voter suppression legislation.
- AT&T has given the most to supporters of state-level voter suppression bills, at more than $811,000. AT&T is followed by Altria / Philip Morris ($679,000), Comcast ($440,000), UnitedHealth Group ($411,000), Walmart ($377,000), State Farm ($315,000) and Pfizer ($308,000).
- Among members of the Fortune 100, 81 companies have contributed to these lawmakers, giving a combined total of $7.7 million.