(Austin, TX, Thursday, October 24, 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.

Since 2013, 720 Texas polling places have been shuttered following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shelby County v. Holder which gutted the Voting Rights Act. Additionally, polling places across Texas have struggled to recruit enough workers needed to run free and fair elections, causing long lines to the polls. Waits tend to be longest at Texas polling places that serve communities of color, where voters have historically faced barriers to the ballot.

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.

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. 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/.

The Texas Civil Rights Project is boldly serving the movement for equality and justice in and out of the courts. We use our tools of litigation and legal advocacy to protect and advance the civil rights of everyone in Texas and we partner with communities across the state to serve the rising movement for social justice. We undertake our work with a vision of a Texas in which all communities can thrive with dignity, justice and without fear.