Digital Ad Features Native Civil Rights Leaders From Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada in Support of Federal Voting Protections
ATLANTA — Today, Fair Fight Action, the voting rights organization founded by Stacey Abrams, launched a national ad buy featuring testimonials from voters who participated in meetings on Capitol Hill earlier this month. The group also released a second ad, in partnership with Four Directions Native Vote, featuring Native leaders working to protect the freedom to vote.
The first ad features voters from West Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, and Michigan all sharing their experiences in our democracy, and it calls on Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The buy will air in target markets in the coming weeks. The ad, entitled Voter Testimonials, starts with stark images of long lines in states across the country.
Fair Fight Action collaborated with Four Directions Native Vote to produce a second ad featuring Native American civil rights leaders discussing their long fight for voting rights. The Native Civil Rights Leaders ad launched last week Friday and will air in Alaska, Nevada, and Arizona statewide for four weeks.
“Four Directions is proud to work with Fair Fight Action to demand our Senators to take action to pass federal protection for Native voters,” said OJ Semans, co-Executive Director of Four Directions Native Vote.
The ads follow passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, authored by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Alabama), legislation that would restore the Voting Rights Act. Passing both the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act presents a once-in-a-decade opportunity to protect Black and Brown voters from partisan gerrymandering and ensure their voices are heard.
WATCH: The new Fair Fight Action ad, “Voter Testimonials,” can be viewed here. It is running in TV format with the partial transcript below.
James: “I received a letter from my voter office stating that I was a deceased person.
What bothered me is, where did this information come from?”
Joseph: “I volunteered to count absentee ballots…for military members overseas. The man standing right next to me started the chant to stop the count…but these are the votes that we can’t count?”
Lakeisha: “When I signed up there was no lines for me to get into the Army. So why should I and my fellow brothers and sisters in arms have to stand in long lines to cast a ballot?”
José: “No one should have to wait this long to exercise their constitutional right to vote.”
Joseph: “Voter suppression is not politics. It is an attack on our democracy.”
Voiceover: Tell Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act today.
WATCH: The new “Native Civil Rights Leaders” ad is running on TV and digital formats, can be viewed here.
A script of the ad follows:
Elveda Martinez: As Native people we’ve been fighting for this right to vote and here we are in 2021 and we’re still fighting.
Dallin Maybee: We need people who not only understand the challenges in our communities, but are willing to advocate for them.
Martinez: We want Natives to get to the polls to vote so their voices are heard.
William “Snuffy” Main: It’s important to all of us.
Don Ragona: We are Indigenous peoples. Our votes and our voice matters.
Maybee: Elections carry historic consequences. Call your elected officials today. Tell them to protect our freedom to vote.
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