Progressive Groups: Election Funds Non-Negotiable In Next Relief Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, August 3, 2020
Stacey Abrams: “If the Senate does not do its part, Americans will have to risk their lives to vote.”
Sean Eldridge: “We are asking Democrats to stand strong and to not take ‘no’ for an answer.”
Leah Greenberg: “Election funding is non-negotiable because our democracy is non-negotiable.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Earlier today, Stand Up America Founder and President Sean Eldridge joined Fair Fight Action Founder Stacey Abrams and Indivisible Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Leah Greenberg in demanding that election funding be a non-negotiable part of the final coronavirus relief package. As Congress continues negotiating this week, the leaders of the progressive organizations and voting rights groups demanded that Republicans work with Democrats in both chambers to allocate more federal funds for states to implement safe, fair, and accessible elections this fall.
Last week, Senate Republicans drew massive backlash for failing to include any election assistance in their plan even after House Democrats passed the HEROES Act with $3.6 billion in funding for the states ten weeks ago. Instead of protecting our democracy, GOP lawmakers included $1.75 billion for a new FBI headquarters and $8 billion for defense contractors in their trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package.
“Nations around the world have been able to adjust their elections to accommodate this pandemic, to maintain democracy even in the midst of this tragedy. Unfortunately, the United States has not adapted as well while cash-strapped states face both internal headwinds and external forces,” said Stacey Abrams, Founder of Fair Fight Action. “This is a bipartisan concern—but unfortunately without the federal funding and the federal guardrails this is going to be a very uneven election. If the Senate does not do its part, Americans will have to risk their lives to vote.”
“The GOP’s proposal is a smack in the face to our democracy and American voters—and it is nothing less than an attempt to suppress the vote in the middle of a pandemic,” said Sean Eldridge, Founder and President of Stand Up America. “We are asking Democrats to stand strong and to not take ‘no’ for an answer. Election assistance must be included in the final package.”
“Under the very best of circumstances, with a pandemic raging that is showing no signs of slowing, the election of November 2020 would be a very serious logistical challenge for our states,” said Leah Greenberg, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Indivisible Project. “In the next COVID package, Congress can get us as close as we can to that best case scenario—an election that is a huge lift, but is ultimately one in which Americans can cast their ballots safely and fairly. But they can’t do it unless we make it very, very clear: election funding is non-negotiable because our democracy is non-negotiable.”
Since March 2019, Stand Up America has helped more than 220,000 constituents call their lawmakers in the House and Senate to demand $3.6 billion in election assistance funding. Last month, Stand Up America, Indivisible, and Fair Fight Action led a coalition of voting rights groups and progressive organizations in calling on the Senate to end congressional recess early and come back to approve more election funding.
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