AUGUST 5, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

VOTING RIGHTS ACT PRESS CONFERENCE WILL CONDEMN GERRYMANDERING & VOTER SUPPRESSION

On the anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act a press conference will be held to condemn voter suppression and gerrymandering, and call for greater voting rights protections. It will take place on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 12:00 noon in front of the Rodino Federal Building, 970 Broad Street, Newark, NJ. The press conference is being called by the People’s Organization For Progress and the Martin Luther King People’s Convention for Justice and Resistance.

“The purpose of the press conference is to draw attention to the attacks on our voting rights, condemn voter suppression and gerrymandering, and demand restoration of the Voting Rights Act and passage of current voting rights legislation,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated. “August 6th will mark the 60th anniversary of the signing into law of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Since that time the it has been gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court and weakened at federal, state and local levels,” Hamm said. “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed in response to the Civil Rights Movement that was fighting on behalf of black people who were being denied the right to vote,” Hamm said.

“Here we are sixty years later in the 21st century and voter suppression and gerrymandering are still being used to keep African Americans and others from voting,” he said. “That legislators from Texas would have to flee the state in order to stop a gerrymandering scheme that would eliminate black representation shows how our country is moving backwards with regards to voting rights,” he said.

At the press conference activists will call upon Congress to pass The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14). They will also call upon the New Jersey legislature to pass the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act (A4083/S2352). Those present will also call upon the state’s lawmakers to pass legislation that will allow for same-day registration. This would make it possible for voters to register and to vote in an election on the same day it is being held. Among the speakers will be voting rights activists, labor leaders, religious leaders, elected officials, and representatives of grassroots organizations.

“The People’s Organization Progress (POP) urges everyone to contact their congressional and legislative representatives and urge them to vote for these voting rights bills,” he said. For more information call the People’s Organization For Progress at (973)801-0001.