Joe Biden went on ESPN to endorse the demand of the Major League Baseball Players Union that MLBs All-Star game be relocated from Atlanta to protest Georgias new voting law. MLB Commissioner Bob Manfred then promptly announced he would, in fact, relocate the All-Star Game because that was the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport. He was evidently responding not only to Bidens criticisms of the new law but to demands from Stacey Abrams, Al Sharpton, and others that MLB denounce it. He apparently believed that keeping the All-Star Game in Atlanta would elicit disruptive political protests and player protests. So how restrictive is the law? Is Biden right to say its Jim Crow on steroids? And how does it compare with election laws in other states with MLB teams, or in other countries where Manfred wants to establish MLB teams and operations?
A section of the law which prohibits people from supplying voters with food and water within 150 feet of a polling place does seem harsh. Its intent is to prevent representatives from candidates and interest groups from electioneering on behalf of their causes by distributing food and water to voters. But election officials can make water available, and voters can always bring their own water with them anyway, so whats the problem?
The Washington Post, whose liberal editorial page has regularly endorsed Democratic presidential nominees, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, further claims that Georgias new law makes it harder to cast absentee ballots, reducing drop boxes for mail ballots, barring mobile voting places and for making significant procedural changes that potentially give more power to the GOP-controlled legislature in the election process. But the Post also admits that Bidens most harsh and frequent criticism of the law is flat-out false.
Biden said that the law will limit the hours during which Georgians can vote. At his March 25 press conference, Biden said, What Im worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. Its sick. Its sick deciding that youre going to end voting at five oclock when working people are just getting off work. The next day he said, Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people cant cast their vote after their shift is over.
As the Post and other outlets have said, Bidens remarks are simply false. The new law provides for the polls on Election Day to remain open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, not 5:00 pm, as Biden keeps saying. Moreover, the new law mandates that counties permit early voting for a minimum of eight hours a day, an expansion over what the previous law required. The Post concluded that One could understand a flub in a news conference. But then this same claim popped up in an official presidential statement. Not a single expert we consulted who has studied the law understood why Biden made this claim, as this was the section of law that expanded early voting for many Georgians. Somehow Biden managed to turn that expansion into a restriction aimed at working people, calling it among the outrageous parts of the law. Theres no evidence that is the case. The president earns Four Pinocchios.
Theres no evidence in Manfreds statements to indicate he has actually read the law, or news analyses of the law, or really has any idea of whats in it. This becomes especially clear when one compares Georgia with places to which Manfred actually wants to maintain or even expand MLB operations.
Karl Rove has compared Georgias laws to those of other states which have more restrictive voting laws yet which also have MLB teams or operations undisturbed by Manfred and free of criticism from Biden. Rove writes, for example:
Georgia has a robust early-voting period, expanded by the new law to 17 days, with two optional Sundays. New York has only eight days of early voting, while neighboring Connecticut and New Jersey have none. Youd think the woke commissioner would speak out against these restrictions to the ballot box, but youd be wrong.
If Mr. Manfreds concerns were authentic, hed condemn states such as Missouri, which has two major-league teamsthe Royals and the Cardinalsbut doesnt allow no-excuse absentee voting or early voting. But he wont.
Theres no early voting in Michigan, so youd think hed work to ensure every Tiger fan participates in shaping the United States, which he said he wants for everyone. But again, he wont.
Ohio and Pennsylvania each have two pro baseball teams, yet neither state has early voting. Minnesota has the Twins and Wisconsin the Brewers, yet no early voting. While Massachusetts allowed no-excuse vote by mail in 2020 because of the pandemic, it expires June 30. And Red Sox fans across the border in New Hampshire must have an excuse to vote by mail and theres no early voting. When will Mr. Manfred speak out against all this voter suppression? Or is Georgia the only state worthy of his condemnation?
And theres Cuba and China. He wants an MLB team in Cuba, and more broadcasts of MLB games in China. Both Cuba and especially China are brutal Communist dictatorships. China in particular keeps threatening the freedom of Taiwan, has destroyed the freedom of Hong Kong, and, according to Joe Bidens Justice Department, is committing genocide against the Uighurs. So how can Manfred possibly claim that either Cuba or China has less restrictive voting laws than Georgia?
In deciding to move the MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta at Bidens behest, Manfred has only deepened the political controversy in which he finds himself. And to make matters worse, Biden and Abrams have begun to question the wisdom of relocations and boycotts since whatever else they do, they cause job losses and other damage to the local economy. That leaves Manfred increasingly alone in his decision, facing criticisms as best he can. Tough.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville and taught politics and government at Tarleton since 1987. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990 to the present). He was Mayor Pro Tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He is a member of St. Lukes Episcopal Church and the Stephenville Rotary Club, and does volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America.Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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