By Brian Brant
In a letter first obtained by Axios, hundreds of state and national advocacy groups are calling on corporations like Coca-Cola, FedEx, the Chamber of Commerce and Chevron to stop funding the American Legislative Exchange Council because of voter restriction efforts.
The ALEC, a conservative group, drafts model legislation for state lawmakers and has opposed Democrats' election reform legislation.
However, organizations like Common Cause, Stacey Abram's Fair Fight Action and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization, write that business "participation in ALEC serves to promote and legitimize the group’s anti-democratic efforts to create more barriers to voting," according to the letter.
"Through the American Legislative Exchange Council, dozens of corporations — many of whom pledged solidarity with Black workers and consumers just last year — are secretly funding efforts to silence Black voters," Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice and democracy campaigns at Color Of Change, said in a statement.
This warning comes as 14 states have enacted 22 laws that restrict voting this year, according to the Brennan Center of Justice.
Axios reports Democrats and organizations in Texas mobilized businesses like Dell, Microsoft and American Airlines to combat a voting bill that was through the legislature. State Democratic lawmakers then boycotted the vote on the bill.