Hispanic Federation Stands for Freedom

On Tuesday, November 8th, HF President Lillian Rodriguez Lopez joined U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel, NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, 1199SEIU President George Gresham and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton to announce the "Stand for Freedom" voting rights campaign.

Stand for Freedom is a nationwide grassroots mobilization effort to prevent bills designed to suppress the vote from taking effect in more than 30 states across the nation. Many of these bills would seek to end early voting and require voters to obtain and present an official photo ID in order to cast a ballot.
Low-income workers, students, the elderly and people of color will be disproportionately affected by the new laws, since they are less likely to have identification that complies with these strict rules. A recent report shows that voter ID bills could lower Latino voter turnout by as much as 10 percent.

"From the beginning of our nation’s founding, Americans have understood that voting was fundamental to their pursuit of freedom and equal opportunity. Any attempt to undermine the right to vote, especially when that effort is directed at historically marginalized groups, must be treated as an attack on the very ideals that created our country: democracy and equality. And that is why we stand up for freedom and will continue to fight for the right to vote for all Americans, stated Lillian Rodríguez López.

During the press conference, the coalition of more than twenty advocacy organizations announced plans for a major mobilization on December 10th – United Nations Human Rights Day – to protest the attack on voting rights throughout the country. For more information on Stand for Freedom, please contact Jessica Orozco, HF's Director of Immigration and Civic Engagement.