(Madison, WI, Wednesday, October 23, 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.
In 2011, Wisconsin lawmakers passed one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the nation, but, since then, haven’t taken meaningful steps to educate voters on how to comply with the law. All Voting is Local is filling that void by launching today a voter education campaign to arm residents with information to ensure their voices are heard on Election Day.
Wisconsin’s voter ID law kept at least 16,800 people in Milwaukee and Dane counties from casting ballots in 2016, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The requirement most affected low-income and African-American voters.
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/.