MLB and Coca-Cola criticize US voting restrictions in Georgia

The’election law war’ is intensifying in the United States, which has been only five months after the presidential and Senate and House elections ended. The battles over improving the electoral system and expanding the right to vote have spread beyond the politics to the business and sports world. The necessity of reforming the voting system, which has limited voter participation, has been constantly raised in the United States, but there has been no progress due to the divergence of interests among political parties, and instead, only controversy is spreading.

It was the Democratic Party that first raised momentum. The Democratic Party, which took control of the Federal House of Representatives, passed a law to expand voting rights in the House on the 3rd of last month (local time). It includes information about obtaining qualifications to automatically vote without registering as a voter, simplifying the process of verifying voter’s identity, and extending the pre-voting period. It was evaluated as a way for Democratic supporters to increase the turnout of relatively large blacks and Hispanics. The bill also included a proposal to establish an independent constituency demarcation committee to prevent’Gary Mandering’, where the majority of electoral districts are arbitrarily adjusted.

But faced with Republican opposition, the bill halted in the Senate. Republicans have reversed legislative action to further restrict the right to vote in states. Georgia, the largest battleground for the presidential and Senate elections, passed a bill on the 25th of last month by the Legislature that included provisions such as submitting a photo ID of an absentee ballot, reducing the period of absentee voting, and restricting voting places. This was possible because the Republican Party took control of the Legislature and the state government.

Georgia is where President Joe Biden won the last presidential election over former President Donald Trump. The Democratic Party’s victory in Georgia was the first in 28 years after the 1992 presidential election. The two seats of the senator were also taken by the Democratic Party with a slight margin. Although it was a Republican garden, it was analyzed that the Democratic Party won the victory through active participation of black people. This is why the Republican Party has stepped up legislation to lower the turnout.

After controversy over restrictions on voting rights in Georgia, the storm is intensifying. Companies headquartered in Georgia, such as Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, expressed their opposition, conscious of boycotting public opinion. The American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB) announced on the 2nd that it will move the location of the All-Star game, which was scheduled to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on July 13th. Then, former President Trump came and criticized MLB and Coca-Cola, and major Republican politicians were added. On the other side, former President Barack Obama and others support the MLB and criticize Georgia’s actions, and the battle continues.

Black racism was legally abolished in the United States in 1862. However, the’Zim Crow Act’, which separates and discriminates blacks from whites in public places, existed from 1876 to 1965, and blacks were restricted from exercising their voting rights. Even after 1965, several measures have existed and have not been corrected, especially in southern states, to prevent blacks from participating in voting. It is of interest whether this controversy, which has led to MLB and Coca-Cola, will lead to the improvement of the complex and backward voting system of the United States, the aid of modern democracy.

Washington= Jeong Won Correspondent [email protected]

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