Major League Baseball plans to move its All-Star Game to Denver after the league announced Friday that it will withdraw the game from Atlanta in protest of the state’s new restrictive voting laws.
The league will announce Tuesday that the game, which takes place on July 13, at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, USA Today, will be reported Monday night, referring to a person with knowledge of the decision.
The city of Denver began lobbying to host the game after the MLB announced it was taking the competition out of Atlanta, according to Yahoo Finance.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told the point of sale that his city was “ready to host the game”, referring to the city’s ‘progressive voting system’.
“We are proud to welcome this and talk about the progressive voting system in Denver, which is committed to ensuring that no one, no one is exempt from their voting rights,” Hancock told Yahoo Finance.
‘We’ll show it off, but more importantly, we can show Major League Baseball that we’re ready to go. [the All-Star Game] in July, if they still choose us, ”he added.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the decision to move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in a statement on Friday, writing, “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and is against ballot box restrictions.”
Manfred said the decision was made after discussions with teams and players found that moving the game out of Peach State “is the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
Last month, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
Brian Kemp Juan Williams: Corporate leaders must abandon Georgia’s unfair law. Some Georgia GOP lawmakers want Coca-Cola products removed from offices. Right-wing cultural politics, professional sports and the state economy: we have seen it more and more (R) signed a comprehensive election bill that tightened voting rights in the state, including restricting the use of ballot papers and the requirements for identifying photos for the absent vote.
The legislation also makes it a crime for people to distribute water or food to individuals standing in line, claiming that such provisions are a form of a gift that should be banned.