Cummins Joins Calls to Advance Voter Accessibility

Cummins has endorsed a recent Business Roundtable statement supporting efforts to advance voter accessibility in the United States, Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger announced last week.

“We are stronger as a nation when more people vote and are engaged in the civic process,” Linebarger said in an essay posted on the company’s external website. “We believe efforts to restrict voting access are discriminatory, largely aimed at our Black and brown citizens, and have no place in the inclusive communities we are committed to building.”

The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies working to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy. Cummins has long been an active member.

The group issued its statement March 31, as changes to voting laws are being considered by multiple state legislatures after the 2020 elections.

“The right to vote is the essence of a democratic society, and the voice of every voter should be heard in fair elections that are conducted with integrity,” the Business Roundtable said. “Unnecessary restrictions on the right to vote strike at the heart of representative government. Business Roundtable members believe state laws must safeguard and guarantee the right to vote.”

Cummins is a global power leader based in Columbus, Indiana. It believes companies are only as strong as the communities around them.

“We stand today as advocates for inclusion and equity, as we did in 1963 when our then CEO J. Irwin Miller supported Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington,” Linebarger said in his statement.

“We have a proud and long history of advocacy for those who are marginalized and oppressed, and we will continue to speak out on their behalf. Diversity, equity and inclusion make our communities stronger and more vibrant.”