This week, NPR highlighted the continued resistance from civil rights groups to remove voter intimidation billboards in Ohio and Wisconsin. More than 65,000 ColorOfChange members have signed our petition calling on Clear Channel, the hosts of the billboards, to take down the signs immediately.
These billboards, found in predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods, were paid for by an anonymous family foundation. Clear Channel has declined to share the family foundation's name.
"We're going to work incredibly hard to find out who's behind these," says ColorOfChange Executive Director Rashad Robinson
The billboards imply that voter fraud is a widespread problem. This myth has been used repeatedly to justify voter intimidation efforts.
Robinson points out that:
"In fact, you're more likely to get hit by lightning than to have in-person voter fraud," he says. "These anonymous donors are not running billboards warning us about getting hit by lightning. They are running these billboards in black and brown neighborhoods with the real intention of scaring people."
You can listen to the entire "Swing-State Billboards Warning Against Voter Fraud Stir Backlash" story on NPR's All Things Considered.
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