Big US corporations are disgusted with Georgia’s election law

ATLANTA (ANP) – Major American business has taken a public stand against a new electoral law recently passed by the state of Georgia. This law makes it much more difficult, especially for black voters, to vote, say critics of the Republican-backed law. Coca-Cola and Microsoft, among others, don’t have a good word for election law.

The new rules were passed last week and then ratified by the Republican governor of Georgia. Voting now includes stricter identification rules. The possibilities to vote by letter or by proxy are also limited, to the detriment of those who cannot vote themselves on polling day because of their work. In addition, people are no longer allowed to give water or food to voters who line up outside a polling station. Now that counts as a crime.

Black American business executives, including Kenneth Frazier of pharmaceutical company Merck, have called on their co-CEOs to condemn the law. Microsoft responded to this with a detailed statement. “Two things are clear to us: the right to vote is the most valuable aspect of a democracy, and this new law unfairly restricts the right to vote legally and securely,” writes the software company, which recently invested heavily in the southern state. Microsoft also expressed these concerns before the Georgian parliament passed the new law.

Move back

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey calls the new rules a step backwards. “It does not advance the values ​​we hold in Georgia in terms of the right to vote and the integrity of the elections,” he told commercial television station CNBC. “This legislation is false and needs to be corrected.” Delta Air Lines also calls the new law “bogus” in a note to staff, but says it has already prevented some abuse by lobbying.

The latter two companies, both based in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, had previously been criticized for failing to clearly condemn the new election law. Some activists have even called for a boycott of Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines.