Amazon, Target, Starbucks among companies in statement defending voting rights

Hundreds of high-profile companies, including retailers, joined together in a statement opposing efforts to restrict voting rights.

More than 300 companies, business leaders and other individuals signed on to the statement, which appeared as a two-page advertisement in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post on Wednesday under the heading, “We Stand For Democracy.” The statement, which was designed as non-partisan, comes as measures to change how U.S. citizens' votes are being pushed at the state level. (See end of article to read the statement.)

“We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot,” the statement read. (Full statement at end of article.)

The retail companies that signed on included Apple, Amazon, Starbucks Corp, Target Corp., Best Buy, Nordstrom, Levi Strauss & Co., REI, Under Armour, Warby Parker, Peloton and Sweetgreen. Numerous tech companies also signed, including Paypal, Microsoft, Salesforce, Square, Alpabet (Google) and IBM.

In some instances, the CEOs of the companies also signed as individuals, such as Chip Bergh, president and CEO of Levi Strauss. The statement was organized by Kenneth Chenault, former CEO American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck.

Walmart did not sign the statement. The Times reported that CEO Doug McMillon, sent a note to employees to explain the company’s position.

“We are not in the business of partisan politics,” he wrote. “While our government relations teams have historically focused on core business issues like tax policy or government regulation, Walmart and other major employers are increasingly being asked to weigh in on broader societal issues such as civil rights.”

While the retail giant didn’t sign the statement, “we do want to be clear that we believe broad participation and trust in the election process are vital to its integrity,” McMillon said.

Here is the full statement signed by the companies.

We Stand For Democracy.
A Government of the people, by the people.

A beautifully American ideal, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history.

As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything.

However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice.

For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us.

We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.

Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.”