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This news is a little stale by now, but did you all hear Major League Baseball will be hosting the 2025 All Star Game in Atlanta? Remember how they moved that event out of Atlanta on short notice two years ago citing concerns over Georgia’s new election integrity law?

So what changed over the last two years to make MLB decide to come back to Atlanta?!

Nothing!! The law is still intact – nothing’s changed. And all the critics who said it would somehow suppress voter turnout were humiliated and proven (once again) to be wrong. In fact, Georgia’s turnout in the 2022 midterms set new records.

Now MLB comes crawling back to Atlanta, after having been manipulated and acting like cowards in the face of what they knew to be lies. And yet Atlanta still hasn’t received a formal apology from MLB or its weak commissioner, Rob Manfred.

The truth always wins in the end. Here’s a recap of the lies people told about Georgia’s law:

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CLAIM #1: “Voters will now have less time to vote absentee.”

The new law gives Georgia voters a 67-day window to request an absentee ballot. That’s over TWO MONTHS! Are we honestly to believe that Sixty. Seven. Days. is not enough time for someone to vote absentee? Give me a break.

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CLAIM #2: “There are strict new ID requirements for absentee ballots.”

Why does MLB require a photo ID to pick up a ticket to one of their games at will-call. It’s because even they understand that sometimes it’s important to prove you are who you say you are. This is not a novel concept.

Georgia is wisely moving away from signature verification – which is subjective at best (if it’s even done at all by election officials). For absentee voting, their new law simply asks for the number on your driver’s license or FREE state-issued identification card. If you don’t have one of those, then the last four digits of their Social Security number will suffice. And if that’s a problem, the law allows a number of other ways to verify your identity.

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CLAIM #3: “Georgia’s new law eliminates drop boxes.”

What Georgia is doing actually FORCES each of its 159 counties to provide at least one drop box, which previously was not a requirement. It also allows densely populated counties to provide more drop boxes, according to their population. Furthermore, Georgia’s new law requires drop boxes to be in a secure location under surveillance by elections officials or law enforcement. (No, there won’t be as many as there were during the 2020 pandemic election, nor would that many be prudent.)

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CLAIM #4: “Setting a deadline to request absentee ballots by mail is tantamount to voter suppression.”

False. The U.S. Postal Service advises voters and election authorities to allow FIFTEEN days for round-trip delivery of votes by mail. Georgia’s new laws shaves off even more time than that! If you’re going to allow absentee by mail voting, then obviously there should be deadlines in place to ensure voters have ample time to return their ballot by mail. This is not voter suppression – it’s common sense.

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CLAIM #5: “People standing in a hot line can’t be offered water.”

Wrong. Georgia’s new law allows elections officials to set up unattended stations, like a water cooler or water fountain. Or, obviously, someone can bring their own drink.

The point of this policy – which some other states have also adopted – is to prevent partisan groups from having close-contact with voters as they’re approaching the voting booth. It doesn’t matter if it’s an activist on the right or left; it’s inappropriate for issue advocates or party operatives to be distributing ANYTHING within close proximity of the voting stations.

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CLAIM #6: “Georgia’s new law restricts early voting.”

Actually, Georgia’s new law mandates 17 days of early in-person voting. SEVENTEEN DAYS! Additionally, their law requires early voting locations to be open for a minimum of eight hours a day, and it also requires at least two Saturdays of early voting. This is MORE than adequate, and nobody in good conscience can claim otherwise.

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CLAIM #7: “It’s now illegal for election officials to mail out absentee ballot applications to all voters.”

Good. They shouldn’t be doing this anyway. Election officials shouldn’t arbitrarily send out millions of ballots to voters who may or may not want one, to addresses that may or may not still be valid. This is ripe for abuse, and Georgia is wise to prevent it from happening. If someone wants to vote absentee, then fine, they can request a ballot and verify their address in the process.

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CLAIM #8: “If you show up at the wrong polling place, it will be even harder to vote.”

On Election Day, Georgia’s polls close at 7 PM. With this new law, if you show up at the wrong precinct before 5 PM on Election Day, officials will simply point you to the correct precinct. After 5 PM – since you may not have time to get to the correct location – you’ll simply cast a provisional ballot to be counted once officials verify you haven’t already voted elsewhere. How on earth is this controversial?!

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CLAIM #9: “It’s bad that Georgia’s state legislature is now empowered to suspend county election officials.”

Umm, that’s EXACTLY the way it should be. Whether it’s incompetence or worse, there must be a way to remove county elections officials if they have lost the public’s trust. The state legislature is where that authority should reside, above the influence of county officials who are likely acquainted with the individual in question.