New York, NY – Over the past many weeks, millions of people walked, drove, and mailed their ballots so that they could make their voices heard in the 2020 Election. Today, state and local officials across the country are still working to count those votes. In response to what is a massive mobilization of civic participation, Ellen Buchman, President of The Opportunity Agenda, issued the following statement:

We must hear every voice and officials must count every vote until the job is complete. Voters overcame massive, unprecedented obstacles to cast their votes, and no politician’s tricks nor any artificial deadlines for counting should silence them. As officials finish counting the votes, let us breathe together, love one another, keep each other safe, and reinforce that in community there is strength, and with strength there is hope.

2020 has revealed time and again how our societal struggles are interconnected. People in this country came together like never before to make sure that their voices, and the voices of their communities, are heard. Whether they stood in long lines to cast their vote, returned ballots by mail or absentee, helped their neighbors or family members navigate a complicated electoral system, or marched in the streets for justice, Americans are clearly calling for change.

Now some politicians and their enablers are trying to silence our voices and stop the count. These and other efforts to pull us backward, and subvert democracy are wrong and must be stopped.

Over the centuries, we have worked to expand and improve our democracy. Facing a first-ever pandemic-era election, the people demanded that elected officials take long-overdue steps to expand the process of voting to better meet the needs of individuals and families today. This is a good thing, and we must ensure that state and local officials have the time and resources they need to fairly count every vote without any interference whatsoever.

It is time to re-imagine a new future for all of us, and to do that we must embrace the opportunity to hear every voice and count every vote.