Photo IDs Required To Vote In England; Looks Like London Will Never Get MLB All-Star Game

Major League Baseball pulled its All-Star Game out of Georgia because Georgia passed a law that requires voters to have an ID. So I guess MLB and other outraged pro sports leagues won't be holding any events in England anytime soon.

Per the Guardian, "Britons will have to show photo ID to vote in future general elections, ministers are poised to confirm this week, as a means of tackling fraud which critics claim could deter poorer and ethnic minority voters from taking part in democracy."

Ah, yes. Voter fraud. Perhaps England learned something after accusations of that surfaced during America's last election cycle. (And seemingly every American election before that.)

England's voting guidelines are expected to be set forth during Tuesday's Queen speech.

"A requirement that all voters carry photo ID could impede people who wish to turn up at polling stations without planning ahead, given about a quarter of voters -- often younger voters -- do not have either a passport or driving license, critics say," the Guardian wrote.

England's voting reforms are also expected to limit the number of postal votes that can be counted, another attempt by the ministers to reduce the risk of electoral fraud.

Sound familiar?

The answer is it sure does, though for some reason, American sports leagues sure seem to hate it.

For the record, MLB recently paused its London Series because of COVID-19. The first set, between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, was held in 2019. Last year's scheduled games between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were called off.

These new UK stops were designed to appeal to baseball fans in England. But since England is about to implement Georgia's voting laws, the MLB may never go back.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.