Having freshly stepped off of the stage of Democrat candidates, Michael Bloomberg has moved immediately into doing his best to boost voter turnout.
“Voter suppression efforts across the country have been a barely disguised effort to keep Black Americans and other Democratic-leaning voters from the polls,” said Bloomberg in a statement on Monday, March 9th. “I’ve always believed we need to make it easier for all citizens to register and vote, not harder.”
Putting his money where his mouth is, Bloomberg took action with a $2 million donation to Collective Future, a nonprofit which partners with grassroots groups to focus on registering black voters in places where many haven’t been registered before.
Collective Future, which is the nonprofit arm of The Collective PAC, has a mission to “fix the challenge of African American underrepresentation in elected seats of power throughout our nation.”
“There is a critical need for Black voter engagement across the country in the 2020 election and beyond and we are deeply grateful to Mike Bloomberg for his partnership and dedication to this critical cause,” said Quentin James, president of The Collective PAC in a statement responding to the donation.
Historically, black voters have faced a number of obstacles in casting their ballots. From the now-illegal literacy tests and poll taxes to voter roll purges alleged to fight voting fraud but disproportionately impacting black communities, those obstacles aren’t over. Bloomberg’s donation will help put feet on the ground towards getting black voters registered and engaged.
Bloomberg, currently #9 on Forbes magazine’s list of the richest people in the world, is worth approximately $56 billion, and has spent billions over the decades to back his political affiliations, which change from time to time. In 2018, he spent hundreds of millions propping up Democratic candidates in the congressional races. He’s pledged to do so again in 2022.
Source: CBS News
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