MAIL-IN VOTING GAINS SUPPORT

A coalition of Black female celebrities, including singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, as well as mothers of Black Americans killed by law enforcement urged the Senate on Thursday to pass legislation to boost mail-in voting and increase equality at the polls.

The Black female celebrities and leaders sent a letter to Senate leaders urging passage of the $3 trillion HEROES Act, which was passed by the House in May and included $3.6 billion to help states address election challenges. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has opposed the overall bill, describing it as a “liberal wish list.”

The women, led by Tina Knowles-Lawson and members of Mothers of the Movement, pointed to recent disenfranchisement of Americans at polls in Wisconsin and Georgia due to long lines, fewer polling stations, confusion over mail-in voting and malfunctioning voting machines as underlining the critical nature of passing the HEROES Act.

“This is modern-day voter suppression plain and simple,” the women wrote. “Voters in all these states risked their health, and that of their communities, simply to make their voices heard. People should be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote and stay healthy, even during a pandemic. We should not have to choose between public health and a functioning democracy.”

Individuals who signed the letter also included the mothers of Black victims of police, including the mothers of Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland and Eric Garner.

Other celebrities who signed on included actresses Octavia Spencer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson, along with singers Solange Knowles, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland.

“In passing this legislation, you will take an affirmative step toward declaring the Black lives matter,” the coalition of Black women wrote. “You will build an America as good as its ideals. And you will lead the country — thanks to the creation of a more accountable democracy in which all Americans’ voices are heard — towards a long-sought moment in which no mother need wonder: Will my son or daughter not make it home tonight because of the color of their skin?”

Congress already appropriated $400 million to states as part of the CARES Act signed into law by President Trump in March, but experts have estimated states will need $4 billion to address new election challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mail-in voting has become a heated topic of debate, with many Republicans including President Trump pushing back against the idea based on concerns around increased voter fraud and federalizing elections.

A group of former Republican officials and conservative-leaning leaders led by the R Street Institute on Thursday pushed back against concerns around mail-in voting, sending a separate letter to the leaders of both the House and the Senate asking Congress to send states federal election funding.