Workers load an All-Star sign onto a trailer after it was removed from Truist Park in Atlanta, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Major League Baseball plans to relocate the All-Star Game to Coors Field in Denver after pulling this year’s Midsummer Classic from Atlanta over objections to sweeping changes to Georgia’s voting laws, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday night, April 5, 2021, because MLB hadn’t announced the move yet.
Martha Bravo, left, self-administers a swab COVID-19 test under the guidance of Josh Copeland at a table set up outside the main gate of Coors Field as fans return for the first time to the ballpark for a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies Thursday, April 1, 2021, in Denver. Community Wellness of America was offering the service to fans as they entered the ballpark.
Players take part in batting practice as a light rain descends on Coors Field Tuesday, April 6, 2021, before the Colorado Rockies host the Arizona Diamondbacks in a baseball game in Denver. Major League Baseball announced that Coors Field will be the venue for the 2021 All-Star Game after the Midsummer Classic was moved out of Atlanta because of sweeping changes to voting rights established in the state of Georgia.
DENVER (AP) — Atlanta, you’re out. Denver, you’re up.
Major League Baseball swiftly moved the All-Star Game to hitter-friendly Coors Field on Tuesday after pulling the Midsummer Classic from Atlanta over objections to extensive changes to Georgia’s voting laws.
Coors Field last hosted the All-Star Game in 1998. The game will be held July 13.
“We appreciate their flexibility and enthusiasm to deliver a first-class event for our game and the region,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating our sport’s best players and entertaining fans around the world.”
MLB decided to move the game from Truist Park in Atlanta in response to Georgia voting changes signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on March 25. Critics, including the CEOs of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, have condemned the changes as being too restrictive.
The Georgia laws includes new limits on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run, amid a push in Republican-led states to reduce voting options after former president Donald Trump made baseless claims of widespread fraud in last year’s election.
Democratic state officials in Colorado have touted their state’s mail-in voting system, which began in 2013, for its ease and accessibility. In the November election, there were more than 350 ballot drop boxes around the state along with a ballot tracking system that allowed voters to trace their votes as they were accepted and counted.
