WASHINGTON – Alongside civil rights leaders, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission today outlined in Essence why the nation’s leadership must enact a robust plan to address the digital divide exacerbated by COVID-19. Vanita Gupta, president and CEO at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Geoffrey Starks, FCC commissioner, Reverend Al Sharpton, Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, and Maurita Coley, president and CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, address how lack of access to broadband excludes communities, especially those of color, from vital resources such as educational and telemedicine programs, as well as employment opportunities.

“The calls for justice could not be clearer: our leaders must respond to the killing of Black people by police officers and the devastating disproportionate impact COVID-19 has on communities of color. Leader McConnell is not only ignoring these calls, he is doubling down on his effort to entrench his agenda to roll back hard-fought civil rights progress. McConnell is insisting the Senate install his friend, Justin Walker, to a seat on the important D.C. Circuit. His urgency in doing this is fake – he is rushing to fill a lifetime seat that does not become vacant for months.

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.

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ final rule on the non-discrimination protections (Section 1557) of the Affordable Care Act.

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, New America's Open Technology Institute, and 83 civil rights, civil liberties, labor, and consumer protection organizations today released principles to guide employers, policymakers, businesses, and public health authorities as they consider strategies to reopen American society and deploy information technologies designed specifically to monitor, track, or trace individuals in order to mitigate or respond to the COVID-19 public health crisis. The groups note the need to protect the civil rights and privacy of all persons, especially communities of color and other populations who are at high risk for the virus, when considering the deployment of technological measures.

ATLANTA – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local, with its joint campaign And Still I Vote℠, will hold multiple events this week to mobilize voters and urge officials in Georgia to ensure that all voters are granted the right to vote privately, securely, and safely. This event is a part of Turn Up Tuesdays, a weekly national call to action to ensure people are informed and activated to vote in November.

PHILADELPHIA – Leading civil rights organizations will host a telephone press briefing on June 4, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. ET to evaluate Pennsylvania officials’ performance during the primary election this week. The groups will assess how officials executed on the election with two additional months to prepare, including how they informed voters about last-minute changes to polling places and voting by mail amid the COVID-19 pandemic and growing protests which led to reduced public transportation accessibility and militarized police presence. The Pennsylvania primary election was largely seen as a dress rehearsal for the November general election and while these are unprecedented times, Pennsylvania’s elected officials fell short of fulfilling their obligations to voters.

PHILADELPHIA - All Voting is Local and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in conjunction with its joint And Still I Vote℠ campaign, will host events this week to urge Pennsylvania officials to ensure a free, fair and safe primary on June 2. Pennsylvania voters will face a series of barriers to the ballot due to last-minute changes amid COVID-19 and protests across the country, including sudden polling place changes, reduced public transportation accessibility, heavy National Guard presence, and confusing rules about voting by mail.