Hundreds of business leaders and companies, including Amazon . com Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Netflix Inc., signed a new statement to “defend the right to vote and oppose any discriminatory legislation,” the latest corporate response to a wave of Republican-led voting bills being advanced in dozens of states.
More than 300 companies, CEOs and other executives signed on to the statement, which appeared as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times and other publications Wednesday. It was organized by Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express Co., and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co.
“There is overwhelming support in corporate america for this principle of voting rights,” Mr. Chenault said. “The right to vote is fundamental to America. It is not a partisan issue.”
The statement doesn’t directly address specific voting legislation, nor does it call on companies to take business action or halt political donations to lawmakers supporting such bills.
“Clearly, we’re not being prescriptive about how people manifest their opposition,” Mr. Chenault said. “Who in their right mind would say that they want legislation that will limit people’s ability to vote?”
