Dallas Morning News: “Major League Baseball’s decision to pull its All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to the state’s new election laws is a warning shot to Texas lawmakers considering ‘voter integrity’ legislation of their own. According to MLB officials, corporate leaders and civil rights activists, the election law signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp discriminate against minority residents and are designed to suppress their ability to vote. Among other things, the Georgia laws essentially ban mobile voting centers, reduce the time frame for requesting an absentee ballot, require strict ID requirements for absentee ballots and make it illegal for election officials to mail absentee ballots to all voters. One provision makes it a crime for anyone other than an election worker to provide food or water to those waiting to vote. The law is a public relations nightmare for Republicans, given that long lines at polling places in communities of color are routine occurrences.”

“‘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,’ Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. ‘Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.’ Georgia has been ground zero in the fight to protect voting rights, and the actions of Kemp and the GOP-controlled Legislature make that state an easy target for economic boycotts and sanctions by companies and organizations. Officials from corporate America and the major sports leagues are mindful of the 2020 social justice movement that emerged after a Black man – George Floyd – died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck. Chauvin’s murder trial is entering its second week. If they are not careful, Texas GOP leaders could put a bullseye on the Lone Star State. And they could already be missing out on a major sporting event. The election bills in the Legislature will likely result in Texas not getting MLB’s 2021 ‘Midsummer Classic’ that Georgia booted. Last year the brand new Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, was the site of National League playoff games and the World Series. It would have made sense for the stadium to be in the mix for the relocated All-Star Game, but MLB officials won’t risk placing the famed exhibition in a state that approved controversial voting legislation.”