Companies call out efforts to restrict voting in Texas

Corporations including HP, Levi Strauss, Microsoft and Patagonia are expressing concern about proposed changes to voting rules in Texas, where the Republican-controlled legislature is backing bills that would make it harder for some residents to cast ballots.  

"We stand together, as a nonpartisan coalition, calling on elected leaders in Texas to support reforms that make democracy more accessible and oppose any changes that would restrict eligible voters' access to the ballot," the companies and other groups stated in a letter released Tuesday by Fair Elections Texas, a recently formed group that includes former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk. Signed by more than 50 entities, including a number of Texas chambers of commerce, the missive urged business and civic leaders to "call upon lawmakers to uphold our ever elusive core democratic principle: equality."