Stand Up America Celebrates New York’s Passage of John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of NY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
JUNE 2, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:
Monica Garcia, [email protected] 

ALBANY, NY — Today, the New York legislature passed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, legislation that will provide stronger legal tools to combat racist voter suppression in New York, including by creating a statewide preclearance program modeled after Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was gutted by the United States Supreme Court in 2013.

Stand Up America Executive Director Christina Harvey commented on the bill’s passage:

“While other states restrict voting, unchecked by Congress, New York lawmakers have heeded calls to protect the freedom to vote by passing legislation that will help to end discriminatory practices like long lines, inconvenient polling locations, and failures to provide language assistance. These barriers to the ballot impact all New Yorkers, but they disproportionately hurt New Yorkers of color, often preventing them from exercising their right to vote.

“Today, the New York legislature demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that every New Yorker’s freedom to vote is protected. Governor Hochul should follow suit by quickly signing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York into law.”

Stand Up America’s New York members drove nearly 4,000 constituent calls and emails to state legislators in recent months in support of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York. In recent years, Stand Up America has been a leading partner in New York in passing automatic voter registration, which is expected to add over a million voters to the rolls when its implemented next year, permanent voting rights restoration for the formerly incarcerated, and the first statewide small-dollar matching public financing system in the country, which is set to go into effect in November. Our New York members made thousands of constituent calls and sent thousands more constituent emails in support of these policies.

To speak with a Stand Up America spokesperson, please contact [email protected]. 

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About Stand Up America
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to stand up to corruption and voter suppression and build a more representative democracy, Stand Up America has driven over 1.7 million calls to lawmakers, registered over 100,000 voters, mobilized thousands of protestors, and contacted tens of millions of voters. 

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