(Washington D.C., Wednesday, October 16, 2019) –  The Leadership Conference Education Fund offers a unique and timely opportunity to speak with our subject matter experts on the need for a working democracy in order to make progress on issues shaping our everyday lives like issues like educational equity, housing, economic security, and justice system reform.

Congress must deliver on its promise to represent all people in America by passing HR 4 the Voting Rights Advancement Act to ensure that we have the tools we need to address current racial discrimination in voting and stop barriers to the ballot box that restrict the voting rights of Black, Brown, Native and Asian American people. Building a government that is representative of all its people is critical to solve some of our country’s most pressing challenges to improve conditions for us all.

When five justices on the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in the Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, they made it easier for states and local communities to implement discriminatory practices that make it harder to vote.

In 2016 alone, 14 states imposed new restrictive voting laws and policies in advance of a presidential election including cuts to early voting days and hours, strict voter ID laws, purging eligible voters off the rolls, and making it harder to register to vote.

During the 2016 elections, one million people could not vote because of needless barriers to the ballot box.

By 2018, six states had new restrictive laws in place. Voters were faced with over five-hour long lines in states like Georgia and encountered countless other barriers to the ballot box.  There were over 1,688 fewer polling places in 2018 than in 2012 in 13 states that had a history of racial discrimination in voting.

The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund’s campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. For more information on The Education Fund, visit http://leadershipconferenceedfund.org/.