To: Dieter Zetsche, Chairman, Daimler AG & Head of Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz: Cancel your Alabama expansion until the state ends its attack on voting rights
Within days of your announcement of a $1.3B expansion in Alabama, the state closed drivers license bureaus in all of its counties with the highest percentage of Black voters.
Please let Governor Bentley and the state legislature know that your investments are on hold until they stop this racist attack on voting rights.
Please let Governor Bentley and the state legislature know that your investments are on hold until they stop this racist attack on voting rights.
Why is this important?
In 2014, Alabama became one of a handful of states requiring voters to show government ID in order to vote. The rule was only allowed as a result of the 2013 Supreme Court decision removing Alabama and a handful of other states, from jurisdiction under the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, passed after the famous "March on Washington," to prevent voter suppression.
During a September 2015 special session, the Alabama state legislature voted to immediately close 31 driver license bureaus in the state, making it harder to get the ID required to vote. The closed bureaus are disproportionately located in counties with high Black voter registration rolls. Today, eight of the 10 counties with majority Black voters have no driver license bureaus at all.
Mercedes-Benz opened its only U.S. manufacturing plant in 1993 just south of Birmingham. The plant sits on 1,000 acres of land given by the state of Alabama for free to Mercedes. The luxury car company has publicly touted its responsible corporate citizenship in the state. In 2012 governor Bentley visited Germany to personally thank the Mercedes corporation for opening the plant in Alabama.
During a September 2015 special session, the Alabama state legislature voted to immediately close 31 driver license bureaus in the state, making it harder to get the ID required to vote. The closed bureaus are disproportionately located in counties with high Black voter registration rolls. Today, eight of the 10 counties with majority Black voters have no driver license bureaus at all.
Mercedes-Benz opened its only U.S. manufacturing plant in 1993 just south of Birmingham. The plant sits on 1,000 acres of land given by the state of Alabama for free to Mercedes. The luxury car company has publicly touted its responsible corporate citizenship in the state. In 2012 governor Bentley visited Germany to personally thank the Mercedes corporation for opening the plant in Alabama.