Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Denver on Sunday during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Weekend to celebrate the voting laws that helped bring the national event to Colorado.
The “All-Star Voting Rights Rally” drew nearly 300 people to Metropolitan State University to discuss Colorado’s voting laws, provide residents with voter registration opportunities and advocate for national action towards expanding voter access.
“Colorado is known as the national gold standard of elections,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “That’s why, when Georgia passed their newest voter suppression package, the MLB decided to move the All-Star Game up out of Atlanta, right here to Denver.”
The All-Star Game was originally scheduled to take place in Atlanta but was moved away from the state in April after Georgia passed new laws critics say restrict voting access.
Georgia’s new laws make it illegal for local election officials to mail ballots to all voters, limit the window of time for voters to request absentee ballots and criminalize passing out food or drinks to voters waiting in line.
Georgia’s new voting laws were part of 400 bills recently passed in 47 states “to suppress the right to vote,” Griswold said.
“What we are seeing now, coast to coast, is a coordinated attack on democracy,” Griswold said. “It’s political corruption when elected officials try to taint future elections to help themselves and to help their party. It’s un-American.”
In Colorado, every registered voter gets a ballot in the mail, and in recent years the state has expanded access further by adding hundreds of secure, 24-hour drop boxes throughout the state, making it even easier for residents to cast ballots.
In the 2020 election, Colorado had the second-highest turnout of eligible voters in the country, at 76.4%, while Georgia ranked 25th, with 67.7%, according to the University of Florida’s United States Election Project. Colorado also had the highest percentage of eligible residents registered to vote.
“In the week that we celebrate baseball, America’s game, we also celebrate our democracy and a commitment to voter turnout,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. “Across the U.S., however, it’s a different story. We are seeing efforts to undermine the right to vote, particularly for people of color.”
During the rally, Weiser and other speakers urged the U.S. Senate to pass the For the People Act, a bill that was passed by the House in March to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws, limit partisan gerrymandering and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.
Various speakers described the bill as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to protect the freedom to vote, hold politicians accountable and decrease the influence of money in politics.
Before the rally, more than 50 Colorado organizations and leaders also signed a statement in support of inclusive democracy and denouncing attacks on voting rights.
“Now is our time to stop the brutal cycle of human history and racism by passing laws that allow us to evolve into our better self,” said former state legislator Joe Salazar. “Laws that will enfranchise our voters and allow us as a country to become better than we ever were.”
Other speakers at the rally included Congressman John Sarbanes, Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez, Colorado state Sen. Julie Gonzales and several frontline postal workers.
Participating organizations included Common Cause Colorado, Colorado Sierra Club, AFSCME Council 18, ProgressNow Colorado, Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Latino Forum, Colorado People’s Action, Denver Area Labor Federation, Women’s Lobby of Colorado and Indivisible Colorado.
