Hundreds of American companies signed a new statement opposing voting-restriction laws - here's who signed and who didn't
- Hundreds of US companies and executives signed a statement opposing laws that make it harder to vote.
- Companies like Netflix, Starbucks, Amazon, MasterCard, Facebook, and Google signed.
- Others including like Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and JPMorgan Chase declined, The New York Times reported.
Hundreds of US companies and executives have signed a statement opposing "any discriminatory legislation" that would make it more difficult for people to vote.
Several companies had spoken out against Georgia's recently-passed voting-restriction law before, but Wednesday's statement represents the largest collective effort yet.
Companies that signed the statement include:
- General Motors
- Netflix
- Starbucks
- Amazon
- BlackRock
- Target
- Bank of America
- MasterCard
- United Airlines
Investor Warren Buffett, nonprofit organizations, and major law firms also signed.
The statement, which appeared as a two-page ad in Wednesday's editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post, was organized by Kenneth Chenault, the former CEO of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of the pharmaceutical firm Merck, according to The New York Times.
The ad read, in part: "Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy, and we call upon all Americans to take a nonpartisan stand for this basic and most fundamental right of all Americans."
But The Times reported that multiple companies refused to sign the statement, including Georgia-based Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and Home Depot. JPMorgan Chase also declined. Some companies that did not sign the new statement were concerned about the criticism they received after their previous statements and did not feel the need to speak out again, the Times said.
Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola had previously spoken out against the new voting roles in Georgia, where they are based, and The Times reports that Home Depot cofounder Arthur Blank told business executives in a call on Saturday that he supports voting rights.
According to The Times, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon declined to sign even after he was asked by senior Black business leaders to do so. Dozens of Black executives in the US signed a letter earlier this month urging companies to oppose resstrictive voting laws.
"We publicly made our own strong statement last month about the critical importance of every citizen being able to exercise their fundamental right to vote," JPMorgan said in a statement to Insider.