Vote Early Day 2020
The bipartisan initiative “Vote Early Day 2020” is ramping up its efforts to enlist companies to encourage people to vote by absentee ballots or in person early because of the measures imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report on Monday.
As part of that effort, the group will run a $100,000 ad in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal addressed “Dear CEOs and Business Leaders,” Axios reported, citing organizers.
It asks them to “help employees, customers, friends and family understand the many ways they can vote safely, securely and early,” adding that “no one should have to choose between casting a ballot and preserving their health.”
The group designated Oct. 24 as “Vote Early Day” and said it should be a holiday.
The general election is Nov. 3.
“During the 2018 midterms, hundreds of companies participated in corporate civic engagement and the United States saw the highest midterm voter turnout in a century,” project director Joey Wozniak and MTV’s Brianna Cayo Cotter told Axios in an email.
“Now, with changing rules and options like mail and in-person voting gaining significant attention due to public health concerns around COVID-19, we believe it is more important than ever for businesses to use their platforms to share current and accurate voting information with their audiences,” they said.
A number of companies are involved in “Vote Early Day 2020,” including MTV, ViacomCBS, Twitter, BET, Univision, Snapchat, Levi Strauss & Co., Kenneth Cole, Patagonia, REI and Sweetgreen, as well as the League of Women Voters.
California’s Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, are members of the group’s steering committee.
The group’s website advises people how to vote early and lists the voting requirements in each state.