Rampant, Racially Charged Falsehoods About Voter Fraud Undermine Our Democracy
Washington, D.C. – This past weekend in Gettysburg, Pa., Donald Trump repeated disconcerting, misleading, racially charged statements about the nature and health of our voting systems. In response, Advancement Project, a multi racial civil rights organization, released the following statement:
“In America the right to vote is sacred,” said Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project’s national office. “Continuous, baseless claims of voter fraud undermine confidence in our democracy. It is disturbing that a presidential candidate would question the integrity of our election system. Falsely implicating African-Americans in rigging elections and calling on vigilantes to watch voters in Black communities is unacceptable and dangerous.”
“Charges of widespread voter fraud have been rejected by several federal courts and now by many Republican officials. Any vulnerability in our democracy instead, stems from the shameful, long-standing pattern of policies that make it harder to vote for people of color. Recent cuts to early voting in North Carolina and illegal removal of voters from the voter rolls in Ohio remind us that voting rights are still under attack.”
“No one – no individual, organization or candidate – has the right to restrict participation of eligible voters in the process. Intimidation is illegal. In the coming days, Advancement Project will send both campaigns a letter calling on them to endorse free, fair and accessible election practices. Our democracy is stronger when we are all able to participate. ”
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Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization. Founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999, Advancement Project was created to develop and inspire community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras.
