Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced this week that he is making it easier for his company’s employees to vote in November’s elections by making a website where they can register to vote.
In a letter to the company’s employees, Schultz said many Americans don’t vote due to a host of barriers. “Over 60 percent of respondents to a 2014 U.S. Census Bureau Survey said they did not vote due to a variety of issues, including the registration process or forgetting to vote,” he writes. As a result, Starbucks has set up a website with TurboVote, allowing employees to register online and sign up for text and email reminders for upcoming elections. Starbucks will also cover fees associated with getting registration forms and absentee ballots in the mail from TurboVote.
Schultz takes care to note that this effort is nonpartisan. He also wants everybody to not only vote for the next president, but to vote in local elections as well.
According to Politico, Starbucks gave out a free cup of coffee to everyone who voted during the 2008 election. In addition, Howard Schultz wants to promote civic engagement in general, especially when it comes to the “angry tone in politics and everyday discourse.” Too bad people reacted so angrily to his #RaceTogether initiative.
(Via Politico)
