Georgia On My Mind

Major League Baseball's All-Star game was held in Atlanta last night.

Atlanta had originally been awarded the 2021 game but MLB moved the game out of Georgia in a decision made in April, 2021 due to Georgia passing a voting integrity law. 

The new law put tighter restrictions on voter id, mail-in voting, absentee voting and prohibited the distribution of food and water to those standing in line to vote. At the same time the new law liberalized the rules for in-person early voting that is less susceptible to voter fraud.

Critics argued that this new law would suppress voter turnout.

Joe Biden called the Georgia law an "atrocity" and "Jim Crow in the 21st Century".

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2021/04/02/mlb-all-star-game-atlanta-moved-georgia-voting-law/7066061002/

 

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred explained the decision this way in 2021.

“I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft,” commissioner Rob Manfred said then. “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”

Four years later the All-Star game was played in Atlanta last night.

The voting integrity law in Georgia that MLB was protesting in 2021 is still in effect.

What about those "values" that MLB was demonstrating in 2021 by moving the All-Star game?

What about the voting restrictions that were supposed to result in fewer people voting?

Georgia saw record voter turnout in 2024 when we were told that the new law would suppress turnout.

A big reason is that the new law significantly expanded early voting opportunities across the state.

Source: https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-voters-set-a-new-turnout-record-at-almost-53-million-in-2024-election/ZRE5Y6ZLBNCUBL54MZOMWGDIF4/

In 2020, before the new law, 4,999,960 votes were cast in the Presidential election.

In 2024, after the so-called voting restrictions were in place, 5,250,905 votes were cast for President.

After the "restrictive" voting integrity law was in place, voting turnout increased statewide by over 5% between 2020 and 2024.

Voting turnout also increased in the state's largest county, Fulton County, in which 62% of the population is comprised of minorities (42% Black, 8% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 4% other minority groups).

Where was the voter suppression?

The same is true looking at voter turnout in Georgia in the 2018 gubernatorial race (pre-voting integrity law) and 2022 race (post-law).

Voter turnout was also higher in 2022 than 2018.

Voter turnout in 2018 was 3,939,409. Voter turnout in 2022 was 3,964,926.

Major League Baseball never gave a good reason why their values would not allow them to play the All-Star game in Atlanta in 2021 but there was no problem in doing so in 2024 even with the same law in place.

However, when you play the cancel culture game and argue that a voting integrity law is going to suppress voter turnout, you look pretty ridiculous when it does not prove to be true.

Here's hoping that this should be another lesson for those in the sports world that they should quit trying to play politics and just play the game we are paying to see on the field.