Major League Baseball doesn’t like cheaters, either on the field of play or elsewhere.
And it’s been ever thus.
This is why the MLB was undeniably correct to pull this year’s All-Star game from Atlanta after Georgia passed a law that will make voting more difficult, especially for members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
The law, no matter how one slices it, is a move in the wrong direction, away from easing access to the ballot box. At the end of the day, that’s what matters most.
Any law that makes it harder for some folks to vote is a bad law. Period. Some have endeavored to defend the Georgia law by comparing it to voting regulations in other states. Look, they say, Georgia’s law has less restrictive rules regarding absentee voting than does New York State’s. So it’s not so bad after all.
This is the wrong sort of comparison to be making. The Peach State’s new voting law should be compared to Georgia’s old voting law. And if it is found to be moving away from easing the path toward the ballot box, it’s a bad law.
Myriad laws to limit ballot access have been proposed, almost exclusively by Republican lawmakers. This is telling, obviously, because it demonstrates clearly that one party believes it can benefit not by promoting its ideas, but by reducing the votes of some people — generally those who are lower on the economic ladder and people of color.
Last week, Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola were both outspoken in criticizing the Georgia voter-suppression law. Both companies, of course, are based in Georgia. And though they are now condemning the law, neither said a word before the bills were passed and signed by the governor. Thankfully, there are signs that big companies in other states won’t make the same mistake. Both American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and computer giant Dell, with its headquarters near Austin, the Lone Star State’s capital, have voiced their opposition to bills making their way through the Texas legislature that would curb access to the polls. Data from the Brennan Center for Justice found a shocking 361 bills in 47 states with provisions to reduce access to the polls. This is unconscionable.
Our democracy can function properly only when all the citizens have equal access to the ballot. Without exception.
