Arizona Voting Rights Advocates and Officials to Call for Safe and Fair Elections

Voting Rights News, Voting Rights Resources 06.15,20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Charmaine Riley, The Leadership Conference, [email protected], 202.548.7166
Gabby Abbott, All Voting is Local, [email protected], 202.548.7159

PHOENIX –  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local, with its joint And Still I Vote℠ campaign, will hold multiple events this week to mobilize voters and urge officials in Arizona to ensure fair, safe, and accessible elections in 2020. These activities are part of Turn Up Tuesdays, a weekly, national call to action to ensure people are informed and activated to vote in November.

Turn Up Tuesdays is dedicated to ensuring that upcoming elections do not encounter the disarray that voters experienced in the Wisconsin and Georgia primary elections. The activities this week will highlight the history of barriers to the ballot in Arizona, successful efforts to overcome those barriers, and ways Arizonans can take actions in their own communities to ensure that all voices are heard in our elections.

Historically, discriminatory policies, lack of polling places, long lines at polling places, and intimidation have disenfranchised Arizona voters representing communities of color, young people, low-income Arizonans, and voters with disabilities. Advocates are calling for: expanded voting by mail; safe, accessible in-person voting; and expanded protections for all Arizona voters. Here is a list of the week’s events:

Tuesday, June 9
6:00 p.m. MST/PDT

Turn Up Tuesday Facebook Live Event – The Leadership Conference and All Voting is Local will speak with guests about discriminatory barriers Arizona voters face in casting their ballots in November.

Speakers:
Vanessa Gonzalez, executive vice president of field and membership services, The Leadership Conference
Rosemary Avila, Arizona campaign manager, All Voting is Local
Minority Whip Reginald Bolding, Arizona House of Representatives (D-District 27)
Montserrat Arredondo, executive director, One Arizona
Francisca Gil, political director, Arizona Coalition for Change
Angela Willeford, intergovernmental project manager, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

Wednesday, June 17
7:30 p.m. MST/PDT

Center Field Parking Lot
7555 N Pima Rd, Scottsdale AZ 85258

And Still I Vote℠ Drive-In Movie Night – The Leadership Conference and All Voting is Local, in partnership with local organizations, will hold a drive-in movie night featuring Selma, a film based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. Viewers can follow along with real-time conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #AndStillIVoteAZ.

Get tickets here.

Thursday, June 18
6:30 pm MST/PDT

And Still I Vote℠ Tele-Town Hall – The Leadership Conference and All Voting is Local, along with Arizona voting rights organizations and local officials, will host a tele-town hall to answer questions from voters about requesting ballots by mail, polling places changes, deadlines, and voting amid COVID-19.

PRESS DIAL IN: (540)-409-4375, Ext.62483#

Speakers:
Alex Gulotta, Arizona state director, All Voting is Local
Bo Dul, state elections director, Arizona Secretary of State’s Office
Leigh Chapman, director, voting rights program, The Leadership Conference
Joel Edman, executive director, Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation
Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, director, Arizona State University Indian Legal Clinic

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.