Gun violence groups team up on voting rights initiatives
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Gun violence groups March for Our Lives and Brady and Team Enough released an action plan Wednesday to help improve voter registration, mail-in and absentee voting and voter access within Black and Latinx communities across the country.
Why it matters: The partnership along with LeBron James' "More than a Vote" organization is connecting the surge who have supported the Black Lives Matter movement and protested police brutality in recent weeks with their messaging on voting laws and voter suppression.
The big picture: States in the past 10 years have enacted voter restrictions that disproportionately disenfranchise racial minorities, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
What they're saying: "Racist and discriminatory voter suppression is rampant. And let's be clear, it is no accident that the communities most affected by gun violence — namely Black and Latinx communities — face the greatest barriers to the ballot box," the groups said in a joint statement.
- "Following the murders of Black Americans like Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks, more and more Americans are beginning to understand that our everyday policies and institutions are entrenched in systemic racism. And that includes our nation’s voting laws."
What's happening: The coalition is bridging the gap by helping Americans tap into what they want and what they end up getting when it comes to policy.
- The state and local chapters are dispensing tool kits aimed at helping voting rights in 10 states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.
- The kits will provide people in those states information on where to vote, how to vote and landing pages specific to governors' and mayors' policies, phone numbers and contact information.
