Major League Baseball has decided to pull the 2021 MLB All-Star game out of Atlanta. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement announcing that the Midsummer Classic will be moved to a new city. He said the decision was made in response to new voting legislation that was passed in Georgia.
Georgia’s new voting rights law, signed by Governor Brian Kemp on March 25, introduces more stringent ID requirements for absentee voting, severely restricts the use of ballot dropboxes, and makes it illegal for volunteers to bring food and water to voters waiting in line.
Opponents of this law say that the law is meant as a voter suppression tactic, motivated not by the nearly non-existent evidence of voter fraud, but by a desire of the Republican legislature to win upcoming elections, namely the Governor and Senate races in 2022.
MLB is the first corporation to take action against the law. Manfred said MLB is finalizing plans to host the game in a new city and will announce the new venue in the near future.