WASHINGTON — Major League Baseball announced this afternoon that it would be moving this year’s All-Star Game out of Georgia in response to Georgia Republicans’ recently passed voter suppression bill, which makes it illegal to provide water or snacks to voters standing in line and would give partisan state legislators greater control over election administration. The MLB’s move comes as part of a growing backlash against the GOP’s push to limit voting.
“Republicans pushed through a partisan voter suppression bill primarily targeting communities of color, and now Georgians are paying the price,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee executive director Heather Williams. “Brian Kemp and the Georgia GOP own this loss. Republicans should stop trying to suppress votes with election bills no one asked for and instead focus on tackling the challenges facing their constituents and communities.”
Republicans forced through the election bill in the name of safeguarding elections, even though there is zero evidence that there was any significant fraud during last year’s vote. GOP elected officials at all levels of government spent months spreading disinformation about the election results and even tried to overturn the results.
Republicans should have foreseen that the discriminatory and unnecessary bill could result in a boycott of the state; similar backlash was evident after GOP legislatures in states like Arizona and North Carolina passed partisan, anti-LGBTQ legislation that devastated their states’ economy. If Georgians want to blame someone for this predictable backlash, they should look to their Republican leaders.
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