Dear colleagues -

Today, The Leadership Conference Education Fund released a groundbreaking new report: Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote<http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-Diverted.pdf>.

The report focuses on the pernicious use of polling place closures as a tactic to disenfranchise voters - particularly voters of color, older voters, rural voters, and voters with disabilities. Between 2012 and 2018 alone, there were 1,688 poll closures in jurisdictions formerly covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. While there may be valid reasons for polling place closures, we must recognize that closures are taking place at alarming speed amid broader efforts to prevent people of color from voting. And meanwhile, states are under no obligation to evaluate the discriminatory impacts of such closures. This is exactly why we need to restore the Voting Rights Act and all of its protections. Failure to do so will only lead to more of the same: a democracy for some, but not for all.

Please share the report<http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-Diverted.pdf> and website<https://civilrights.org/democracy-diverted/> widely with your networks. The website includes a county level interactive map showing poll closures and racial demographics in formerly covered jurisdictions. You can also find sample messages for social media here<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yfr5CZ2bAstVFqim2s2qZT_N_vkjX6pa6U0MYQNeuGA/edit>.

Thanks for all you do to help build a democracy that works for everyone.

In solidarity,
Vanita

Vanita Gupta (she/her)
President & CEO
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The Leadership Conference Education Fund
Twitter: @vanitaguptaCR
civilrights.org

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