After Major League Baseball announced recently that it would move the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver in protest of new voting restrictions in Georgia, numerous prominent Republicans accused it of hypocrisy.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorgia has 17 days of in-person early voting, including two optional Sundays; Colorado has 15,\u201d Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia told Fox News. \u201cSo what I\u2019m being told, they also have a photo ID requirement. So it doesn\u2019t make a whole lot of sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina made a similar argument in a widely circulated post on Twitter.<\/p>\n
But while the 15-day and 17-day numbers are accurate, the overall comparison is not. Here are four key differences between Colorado\u2019s and Georgia\u2019s systems.<\/p>\n
In Colorado<\/strong>, every registered voter receives a mail ballot by default.<\/p>\n In Georgia<\/strong>, people who want to vote by mail must apply, and the new law more than halves the time they have to do that: Previously, they could apply as much as 180 days before an election, but now no more than 78 days before. Georgia also forbids officials to send voters an absentee ballot application unless they request it.<\/p>\n In Colorado<\/strong>, when residents apply for a driver\u2019s license, they are automatically registered to vote. And if they aren\u2019t registered through that process, they can register separately anytime, including on Election Day.<\/p>\n In Georgia<\/strong>, all prospective voters must complete a registration form, and the deadline is a month before Election Day.<\/p>\n In Colorado<\/strong>, only newly registered voters have to provide identification with their mail-in ballot; for subsequent elections, all that\u2019s required is their signature. And contrary to Mr. Kemp\u2019s statement, there is no photo requirement: Voters can use a birth certificate, a naturalization document, a Medicare or Medicaid card, a utility bill, a bank statement, a paycheck or another government document that shows their name and address.<\/p>\n In Georgia<\/strong>, only photo identification is acceptable for regular mail-in ballots, and it has to be one of six specific types. The requirement will apply to everyone who votes by mail, not just to newly registered voters as in Colorado.<\/p>\n