More large companies have voiced their opposition to Republican-led efforts to restrict voting, this time in Texas.
On Thursday, American Airlines and Dell Technologies declared their objections to proposals in the state that would restrict local measures intended to make voting easier, such as by extending early voting hours.
The pushback in Texas came just a day after Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola spoke out against similar efforts in Georgia, though both companies waited until after Georgia’s governor had already signed the law to criticize it.
“I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values,” Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief executive, wrote in an internal memo to employees on Wednesday that the company has posted on its website. Delta is Georgia’s largest employer.
Coca-Cola, which had also declined to take a position on the legislation before it passed, made a similarly worded statement.
Those comments came a day after a group of Black executives, led by the former chief executive of American Express and the current chief executive of the drugmaker Merck, called on companies to oppose proposed bills making it more difficult to vote across the country — saying that they would particularly impact the voting rights of Black Americans.
On Thursday, American Airlines and Dell each addressed separate bills making their way through the Texas legislature.
“Earlier this morning, the Texas State Senate passed legislation with provisions that limit voting access, ” the airline said in a statement on Thursday, referring to Senate Bill 7. “To make American’s stance clear: We are strongly opposed to this bill and others like it.”
Michael Dell, the chief executive of the Round Rock, Texas-based company that bears his name, took to Twitter to voice his company’s opposition to House Bill 6, a measure that would stop local election officials from proactively sending out applications for mail-in ballots.