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Microsoft, which in February announced a major new investment in
Atlanta, Georgia's capital, added its voice with president Brad
Smith saying provisions of the law signed last week "unfairly
restrict the rights of people to vote legally, securely, and
safely."
And Citi Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said in a LinkedIn
post he was "appalled by the recent voter suppression" passed in
Georgia.
The Republican-backed Georgia law strengthened identification
requirements for absentee ballots, shortened early voting
periods for runoffs and made it a misdemeanor for members of the
public to offer food and water to voters waiting in line.
Dozens of Black executives, including Merck & Co Chief Executive
Officer Kenneth Frazier, had earlier in the day called on their
peers in U.S. companies to push back against wider restrictions
on voting rights.
They issued their appeal after Delta and Coca-Cola had faced the
threat of boycotts from activists who said they needed to do
more to oppose the law.
Delta's criticism was a course reversal for the airline, which
had praised the law in a statement on Friday even as it
acknowledged having concerns.
Critics questioned why Delta and other companies did not speak
out before Georgia's governor signed the restrictions into law.
None of the companies disclosed any concrete steps they might
take in response to the law.
'COMPANIES NEED TO TAKE A STAND'
The campaign against the new law, led by Merck's Frazier and
former American Express Co CEO Kenneth Chenault, urged companies
- so far largely silent on the Georgia law - to look past the
appearance of partisanship and publicly stand against it and
voting restrictions being pursued in other states.
"We're calling on corporate America to publicly oppose any
discriminatory legislation and all measures designed to limit
Americans' ability to vote," Chenault told Reuters.
"American companies need to take a stand."
Civil rights groups have launched legal challenges to the new
law, arguing that the measures are intended to make it harder
for people – especially Black voters, traditionally Democratic
voters – to cast ballots.
A letter supporting Frazier and Chenault's campaign was signed
by 72 Black executives including former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns,
former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons and Uber Chief Legal
Officer Tony West.
'A STEP BACKWARDS'
On Wednesday, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey called the law
"unacceptable - it is a step backwards." He told CNBC the law is
"wrong and it needs to be remedied."
Delta chief executive Ed Bastian blasted the law, saying in a
company memo on Wednesday: "The entire rationale for this bill
was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in
Georgia in the 2020 elections."
Bastian wrote: "The bill includes provisions that will make it
harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black
voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their
representatives."
"The final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta's
values," the memo said.
His memo, on the final day of the state legislative session,
drew condemnation from Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
Kemp said the memo "stands in stark contrast to our
conversations with the company, ignores the content of the new
law, and unfortunately continues to spread the same false
attacks being repeated by partisan activists."
Frazier, who is stepping down as head of Merck in June, has been
outspoken on social and political issues before.
He was the first CEO to leave Republican former President Donald
Trump's American Manufacturing Council, saying he was taking a
stand against intolerance and extremism, and called out racial
inequities across U.S. society after the death of George Floyd
under the knee of a Minnesota police officer.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Uday Sampath in
Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Bernard Orr and
Howard Goller)
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