Press Call – Civil Rights Groups: Improvements Needed for Ohioans to Vote by Mail

Covid-19, Voting Rights News 04.14,20

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Contact: Shin Inouye, [email protected], 202.869.0398

CLEVELAND – On Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. EDT, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local will host a telephone press briefing with Ohio voting rights organizations to discuss the voter advocacy work taking place in advance of the state’s rescheduled primary election. The conversation will also cover what Ohio’s election officials need to do to ensure that all voters are heard through the ballot, now and in November. Ohio’s election was moved from March 17 to April 28 over concerns about COVID-19. The election will also now be held almost entirely by mail.

Given the chaos caused by these changes, voting rights advocates are moving quickly to galvanize Ohio voters to mail in their ballots on time. Ohio’s election process could quickly fall into disarray unless Ohio lawmakers and election officials act now to improve inefficiencies in the state’s vote by mail system. All Voting is Local is calling on officials to keep Ohio voters informed and expand early voting sites for future elections to create the conditions needed to conduct safe and fair elections in 2020.

This press call is part of a week-long activation in Ohio spearheaded by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local, in conjunction with the And Still I Vote campaign. As part of the week’s events, the organizations will host Turn Up Tuesdays, a recently announced weekly national call to action mobilizing voters to hold officials accountable and  ensure fair, free, and safe elections in 2020.

Please RSVP to [email protected].

When: Wednesday, April 15 | 2:30 p.m. EDT/ 11:30 a.m. PDT

Participants:

Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference
Mike Brickner, Ohio state director,  All Voting is Local
Prentiss Haney, executive director of the Ohio Student Association
Jen Miller, executive director, League of Women Voters of Ohio

Dial-in information:

1(888) 896-0862
Passcode: 49602350

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

All Voting is Local fights to eliminate needless and discriminatory barriers to voting before they happen, to build a democracy that works for us all. It is a collaborative campaign housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation; the American Constitution Society; the Campaign Legal Center; and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. For more information about All Voting is Local, visit https://allvotingislocal.org and follow us on Twitter @votingislocal.