ADVISORY: Civil Rights Experts Ring Alarm on Poll Closure Epidemic, Urge Passage of Voting Rights Advancement Act

New Report Shows Dizzying Number of Polling Place Closures in States with Histories of Voter Discrimination

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Contact: Kristen Voorhees, [email protected], 202.548.7166

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference Education Fund will hold a national press call on Tuesday, September 10, at 3 p.m. ET to discuss its newly released report, “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote.” A second iteration of original research first released in 2016, the report analyzes 757 of 861 counties and county-level equivalents previously covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which the U.S. Supreme Court gutted in its Shelby County v. Holder decision. The report explains how and why polling place closures are having an increasingly detrimental impact on communities in states with histories of voter discrimination.

Please RSVP to the press call at [email protected].

WHEN: Tuesday, September 10, at 3 p.m. ET

WHO:

Leigh Chapman, director of the voting rights program, The Leadership Conference Education Fund
Leah Aden, deputy director of litigation, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Michelle Bishop, disability advocacy specialist for voting rights, National Disability Rights Network
Beth Stevens, voting rights program director, Texas Civil Rights Project
Sean Young, legal director, ACLU of Georgia

WHAT: Civil rights experts discuss the findings of the “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote” report, with emphasis on the need to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore the VRA.

DIAL-IN INFORMATION:
Dial-in:  1 (888) 332-7137
Conf. ID: 48984191