Play Ball! And Vote

Baseball’s All-Star Game; Georgia’s Voting Law and California’s Potential Voter ID Ballot Measure

Photo by Megan Ellis on Unsplash

Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game will be played in Atlanta Tuesday four years after it was pulled from that city because the Georgia legislature passed a law to tighten voter requirements, which opponents claimed was voter suppression. The law is still on the books, so why is the All-Star game back in Atlanta? And how will the Georgia debate over voting rights play in a proposed Voter ID law California voters might face next year?

Baseball’s summer classic All-Star Game is set for Atlanta despite Georgia’s Election Integrity Act of 2021, still the law. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed the law which made changes to state election procedures including stricter voter ID requirements for absentee voting; limiting placement of ballot drop boxes; banning non-poll workers from providing food or water in voter waiting lines; and increased legislative control over elections.

The law came in the wake of the 2020 presidential election in which President Donald Trump claimed the election was stolen and famously called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 more votes so that he could capture Georgia’s Electoral College vote and maintain the presidency.

Opponents of the law claimed it was an effort at voter suppression to keep voters sympathetic to Democratic politicians from exercising their franchise. President Joe Biden called the law “Jim Crow of the 21^st Century” because he charged, it would turn aside minority voters.

Major League Baseball jumped into the controversy pulling the All-Star Game from Atlanta and sending it to Denver. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the time, "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."

The law has not changed but baseball has. One might think baseball’s change of position occurred because Donald Trump won the 2024 election and baseball, like other businesses, was trying to gain favor with the president. However, the decision to return the game to Atlanta was made in 2023, before Trump won his second term.

Why did baseball change its mind? Commissioner Manfred dodged the issue when baseball announced Atlanta would get the 2025 game, saying, “I made the decision in 2021 to move the event, and I understand, believe me, that people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision.”

Manfred’s earlier comment about baseball supporting “fair access to voting” may hold the key to the change of direction. According to state statistics voter turnout in recent elections have increased despite the law on the books. Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger stated in a press release: “Since the passage of Senate Bill 202 (the Election Integrity Act), Georgia has conducted multiple successful elections with record voter turnout, proving that election integrity measures and voter access can go hand in hand. We are the gold standard.”

Opponents of the law argue that if the law did not exist turnout would be even greater, but the increased voter turnout pushes back against the charge of voter suppression.

The same rhetoric about voter suppression is sure to accompany a ballot initiative campaign in California over a voter ID proposal. Pushed by Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, who says his goal is secure elections, the measure is currently gathering petition signatures aimed for the 2026 general election ballot. DeMaio claims that 36 states require or request that voters provide identification at the time they cast a ballot. If the initiative qualifies for the ballot expect to hear arguments during the campaign about voter suppression from one side and voter integrity from the other.

The Georgia experience will play a role in the debate if the measure makes the ballot. Increased voter turnout in Georgia despite the Election Integrity Act will serve as a shield against charges opposed to the proposed California voter ID law that are sure to come.