This summer’s Major League Baseball Draft and the All-Star Game won’t be held in Atlanta , MLB officials announced Friday.
The withdrawal of …
This summer’s Major League Baseball Draft and the All-Star Game won’t be held in Atlanta, MLB officials announced Friday. The withdrawal of the two events from the city in July is in response to Georgia’s recently enacted voting restrictions, which critics, including President Biden, have denounced as «Jim Crow in the 21st century» because they say the legislation will disproportionately affect communities of color. «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,» MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. «Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.» «Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support,» Manfred said. The Republican-led voting overhaul was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in March and has faced scathing backlash from prominent companies and business executives. While supporters tout aspects of the law that expand in-person voting, critics have denounced dramatic changes to absentee voting rules, which add new identification requirements and also allow Georgia’s state election board — currently dominated by Republicans — to temporarily take over local election offices.
