Labor Union Blog

The AFL-CIO, NAACP, the Brave New Foundation and several other groups are urging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce the Voting Rights Act to stop the discriminatory voter suppression laws the right-wing billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have pushed and financed in dozens of states. The Koch Brothers are major funders of ALEC.

You can join in the fight to protect voting rights by clicking here and signing a petition to Holder urging him to use his authority under the Voting Rights Act to protect voters’ rights.

In this video from Brave New Films examining the new voter suppression laws that could disenfranchise as many 21 million Americans, NAACP President Ben Jealous says:

We’re in a moment right now where we are seeing the most aggressive attempt to roll back voting rights in this country than we’ve seen in over a century.

This year alone, state lawmakers introduced 34 so-called Voter ID and voter registration bills with requirements so stringent that the 11 percent of Americans who lack a government-issued photo ID could be barred from voting. Most of those are African Americans, Latinos, students, seniors and people with disabilities.

According to a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study, here’s who would be affected in Wisconsin where Gov. Scott Walker (R) won a photo ID bill patterned after the model bill ALEC has distributed to right-wing lawmakers:

• 23 percent of Wisconsinites over age 65.
• 17 percent of white men and women.
• 55 percent of African American males and 49 percent of African American women.
• 46 percent of Latinos and 59 percent of Latinas.
• 78 percent of African American males age 18-24 and 66 percent of African American women age 18-24.

Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, says:

The Koch brothers are behind these kinds of laws because they want to cut off the participation of people who are not behind their corporate agenda.

Click here to sign the petition and here for more on ALEC and its corporate partners.