After the state of Georgia went blue in the 2020 election for the first time since 1992 and delivered a Senate majority to Democrats with a key pair of runoff victories this past January, the state's Republican legislature scrambled to limit access to the ballot box, especially for its Black voters, whose turnout was integral to Democrats' sweep of the state.
Like many southern states, Georgia voters have long grappled with voter suppression, but a bill from the state's legislature, which was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp earlier this month, exacerbates those obstacles even further.
Senate Bill 202 requires an ID for absentee voting, limits ballot dropoff boxes in each jurisdiction, effectively bans giving food or water to voters in long lines, and introduces a bevy of other measures designed to suppress votes but presented under the guise of election security.
The bill faced widespread outcry from public officials, private citizens, and a number corporations, but Major League Baseball (MLB) just delivered one of the most devastating consequences yet.
The League announced on Friday that it would be moving its annual All-Star Game from Georgia's capital of Atlanta as a direct result of the law.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement:
"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 ... Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box."
Former President Donald Trump's first Press Secretary and Dancing with the Stars contestant Sean Spicer called for a boycott of Major League baseball.
But his calls for a boycott come as Republicans lament the perils of so-called "cancel culture," a term they use to describe the mass withdrawal of support by private citizens of public figures and entities who act inappropriately.
Republicans have cried cancel culture to dismiss calls for their accountability on matters like supporting the dismissal of electoral votes in swing states Trump lost or for amplifying harmful conspiracy theories on their platform. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio said that cancel culture was one of the greatest threats facing the nation.
Republican hypocrisy on cancel culture is nothing new, but Spicer's tweet prompted social media users to once again point that hypocrisy out.
Spicer excluded, the MLB received widespread praise for taking a stand.
A new host for the All-Star game has yet to be announced.
@elleuk/Instagram
@elleuk/Instagram
