The Leadership Conference Statement on Trump’s Executive Order to Upend Our Elections

WASHINGTON — Jesselyn McCurdy, executive vice president for government affairs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s executive order seeking to upend our elections and disenfranchise millions of voters:

“Voters choose their leaders — not the other way around. This order is a brazen overreach of power by the Trump administration, and it is designed to silence millions of voters — especially Black, Latino, Native American, and disabled voters — and strip communities of their voice in the decision-making that affects their everyday lives.

“States already have incredibly strong checks and balances to administer our elections fairly and securely. This order, and other actions like the SAVE Act, would create significant barriers to voting, preventing us from holding our elected officials accountable and addressing issues that matter most to our communities — like health care, jobs, and economic security.

“We will fight this executive order and any other effort to disenfranchise voters. And we again call upon Congress to pass voting legislation that will help prevent discrimination in voting and ensure access to the ballot box for all communities, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Freedom to Vote Act, the Native American Voting Rights Act, and the DC Statehood bill.”  

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 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.

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