[NFA] Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Thursday was the latest corporate leader to speak out against the state of Georgia's new voting restrictions, which many critics say targets Black people and other racial minorities.
This report produced by Jillian Kitchener.
Corporate backlash against Georgia’s new election law is mounting… With Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday joining the chorus of critics.
Major U.S. companies are challenging the law… which many critics say suppresses voting among Black Americans and other racial minorities.
In a statement, Cook said Thursday (quote) "American history is the story of expanding the right to vote to all citizens, and Black people, in particular, have had to march, struggle and even give their lives for more than a century to defend that right.” The Republican-backed Georgia law - signed last week by Governor Brian Kemp - strengthened ID requirements for absentee ballots, shortened early voting periods for runoff elections and made it a misdemeanor for people to offer food and water to voters waiting in line.
Kemp says the law is "another step to making our elections fair and secure.” But - Many CEO’s have publicly disagreed.
Dozens of Black executives, including Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, called on more of their peers in U.S. companies to push back against such restrictive election laws.
In a Wednesday interview with CBS This Morning, former American Express CEO, Ken Chenault, spoke about their campaign: “There is nothing more fundamental than voting rights.
And the reality is - what we're doing is, we’re calling on companies not to make just general statements about the importance of voting and voter suppression, we’re saying take a stand, publicly oppose any legislation that denies the opportunity to vote.” And on Thursday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CBS This Morning he disagreed with the final bill… after the airline on Friday had praised it: “But when we got a chance to finally see it all put together and had a chance to digest it, as well as listen and hear from the voices of our people about it, we realized that this was restricting their access - our people’s access - particularly in the Black community... and it's important we take a step forward here." Governor Kemp, on Wednesday, criticized a company memo by Delta’s CEO - who called the final bill ‘unacceptable.’ Kemp said the memo (quote) "stands in stark contrast to our conversations with the company” and “ignores the content of the new law.” Kemp also Tweeted: “I refuse to back down from this fight because the integrity of our elections is the foundation of who we are as Georgians.”
