News & Press

By letting elected officials draw the boundaries of their own legislative districts, partisan gerrymandering results in a system that drives out moderation and compromise, elevates the most extreme voices from both parties and leaves too many voters without a real choice on the ballot. We need a political system that responds to the needs of its citizens, and ending gerrymandering is essential to achieve this.

Operation Vote Safe, launched earlier this year under the umbrella of the nonpartisan nationwide nonprofit Business for America (BFA), is mobilizing business leaders to support a safe and secure election during the pandemic. Participating businesses, large and small, make pledges like donating PPE and other equipment needed to ready the polls this year, helping recruit poll workers, lending their facilities, or educating their communities about the election.

Answering a call from Operation Vote Safe, a nationwide campaign led by the nonprofit Business for America (BFA), companies like REI, Patagonia, and Outdoor Research have donated time, technological expertise, and thousands of units of PPE to polling places across the country. The donations will help ensure the safety of voters and poll workers so that, as BFA founder and CEO Sarah Bonk said, "no one needs to choose between their health and their vote."

Sometimes, for-profit and not-for-profit actors have different perspectives on public issues. Not this time. Prompt, reliable delivery of our nation's mail during the coronavirus pandemic — and throughout an election season where absentee voting has already started — is in everyone's best interest.

A national organization is galvanizing businesses in the effort to ensure a safe Election Day for in person voters, as well as raising money and PPE donations for poll workers.

As private companies take a greater role in elections and voter engagement, an issue brief from the Center for American Progress and Business for America outlines 17 ways that the business community can help boost voter turnout and ensure that Americans can vote safely during the pandemic.

If the election process is chaotic and voters are unable to vote, the entire election’s results could be called into question. Business for America is mobilizing businesses to help the 2020 election go smoothly. With businesses, government, and communities working in tandem, there is every reason to believe that this year’s unprecedented election can still be one that restores America’s faith in democracy.

BFA has made a solid, bottom line case for corporate leaders to step up and ensure that their employees can exercise their voting rights and participate in the General Election on November 3, including voting by mail, regardless of their political affiliation.

We're asking business leaders across America to join us in ensuring all employees are able to exercise their right to vote and have the proper tools and means necessary to do so. We have a responsibility to preserve the system of democratic governance that allowed us to dream big and start our own enterprises in this country.

For most businesspeople, voting by mail is not a partisan issue. It is the best chance to protect the health and voices of our employees on Election Day.

Business understands that a successful and competitive economy requires strong democratic institutions — and elections — which must remain resilient in the face of this current public health crisis.

"But ask anyone whether they think the current level of polarization in our politics and the gridlock it creates in Washington is sustainable and most will say that it is not. Just as our natural world is under threat, our civic world is under threat too. It’s hard to see how a business that takes social responsibility seriously shouldn’t also be concerned about the health of our democracy, our politics, and our civic life."

Chris Jacobs, CEO of Communally in the Philadelphia Business Journal: "The longer we wait to implement these common-sense solutions, the more our reputation and self-image will suffer — both outside Pennsylvania and here in the Keystone State, where some residents and businesses are becoming so disenchanted that they are reluctant to start new business ventures, run for office or, sadly, even vote. This lack of confidence can prove harmful to Pennsylvania’s economy."

BFA Board Member Matt Douglass: "As business leaders… we should all be able to recognize is that for America to thrive and innovate in an increasingly competitive global economy, we need strong, uncorrupted, fairly regulated markets. To reach that ideal, we must first protect and strengthen the democratic foundations of our elections. I invite every business leader across the nation to join me in fighting for a more democratic democracy for all Americans…"

Ecos CEO and BFA member Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks: "For the business community, preserving democracy is more than a matter of principle – it's an urgent economic priority. An unstable political system distracts from other challenges facing our country, hinders economic progress and competitiveness, and damages the very fabric of our society."