Companies across the US have banded together to support the Time to Vote campaign, a nonpartisan effort led by CEOs aimed at increasing voter participation.
Companies across the US have banded together to support the Time to Vote campaign, a nonpartisan effort led by CEOs aimed at increasing voter participation.
The US has one of the lowest voter participation rates in the developed world, recently as low as 36 percent, and one of the most common reasons that people give for not voting is that they are too busy, or have work and life demands that prevent them from voting. To change this paradigm, a diverse coalition of roughly 140 companies across a variety of industries — including Allbirds, Beautycounter, Bureo, EILEEN FISHER, Levi Strauss & Co., Lyft, New Belgium Brewing Co., Patagonia, PayPal, Porter Novelli, Timberland, Tyson Foods and Walmart — are coming together, starting with the November elections, to increase voter turnout.
“People have fought and died for the right to vote in America and as business leaders we have a role to play in helping our employees participate in the democratic process,” said Levi Strauss & Co. President and CEO Chip Bergh. “This campaign isn’t about any particular party or candidate or issue — it’s about encouraging more people to vote without having to make the hard choice between going to work and going to the polls.”
The Time to Vote campaign also aims to increase awareness about the steps employers can take to allow time for their employees to vote. The companies joining this campaign are committed to increasing voter participation through programs such as paid time off, a day without meetings, and resources for mail-in ballots and early voting.
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“Beautycounter is proud to give our teams the day off to participate in democracy and head to the polls,” said Gregg Renfrew, founder & CEO of Beautycounter. “Business leaders can play an important role in making it easy for American workers to vote for elected officials that best represent their values. The time is now for us to engage in the democratic process in a meaningful way. As a company dedicated to non-partisan advocacy, we couldn’t find a better way to support our mission than to join the Time to Vote initiative.”
"Lyft takes our civic responsibility seriously, which is why we are providing free and discounted rides to the polls on election day,” said John Zimmer, co-founder and President of Lyft. “Last election, it is estimated that 15 million registered citizens did not vote because of transportation issues. We're thrilled to be a part of the Time to Vote movement, to help community members exercise their rights through initiatives like in-office voter registration, and voter education on early voting and vote by mail."
“Every election is an important one, and democracy dies without engagement,” said New Belgium Brewing CEO Steve Fechheimer. “As business leaders, we aspire to foster engagement within our workplaces, and we have the power to enable engagement in our democracy, as well. We raise our glasses to the organizations that have joined the campaign and to all those considering taking action.”
If your company is interested in joining the Time to Vote campaign, visit MakeTimeToVote.org.
Published Oct 15, 2018 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST