The voting law that cost Georgia the MLB All-Star Game

What's actually in it?

This week:  Ballot access in Georgia … The United Facts of America: a festival of fact-checking … Biden's proposed taxes on infrastructure … "60 Minutes" and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis … Another Pants on Fire for coronavirus misinformation A weekly note from the editor-in-chief of    Elections workers at the Fulton County Georgia elections warehouse check in voting machine memory cards that store ballots following the Senate runoff election on Jan. 5, 2021. (AP) What's in Georgia's new voting law that lost it the All-Star Game Georgia's new voting law has ignited a fight over whether the law expands or shrinks access to the ballot. Republican lawmakers changed voting rules after Democrats won 2020 and 2021 statewide races thanks to strong turnout among Black voters. A few major corporations broadly attacked the law, but the most significant action came from Major League Baseball, which pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta. The league said in an April 2 statement that it "opposes restrictions to the ballot box." Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who signed the bill into law in March, said that Major League Baseball's conclusion about the bill was wrong, and that the bill expands ballot access and ensures election integrity.  Critics of the law, including voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, said the bill is "Jim Crow 2.0" and will make it harder for people of color to vote.  The law's controversial nature is due in part to the fact that Georgia ran a secure and orderly election in 2020, but supporters still falsely claimed the vote was rigged. "Georgia ran a model election for the nation — as secure, transparent, accessible as any election you could hope for — and Georgia did this in the middle of the pandemic," said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. "Georgia did not need election reform after this election. In fact, other states might want to look at what Georgia did in 2020 and try to model themselves a little more after them. The only reason any kind of reform was being considered was because of the big lie, the idea that something was wrong in this election when in fact it was incredibly transparent and secure." We reviewed the substance of the law and spoke with experts about its impact. The long and complicated piece of legislation has both the potential to expand voting as well as restrict it.  "It's just a clear mixed bag," said Matthew Weil, an elections expert at the Bipartisan Policy Center. On the positive side for voters, the law provides for more early voting. (An earlier version of the bill sought to get rid of Sunday voting but didn't become law.) On the negative side, added identification requirements for absentee voting will likely restrict access. The effects of other provisions, including changes to the State Election Board, are difficult to predict, because much will depend on how officials apply them.  Our full report breaks down the many changes to voting by mail, early voting on weekends, rules for voters waiting lines, and changes to the State Election Board.   — Amy Sherman Share Tweet Forward United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-checking We're super-excited here at PolitiFact to bring you an event in May that celebrates a thing we all love: fact-checking. Our first-ever, fully virtual festival of fact-checking will bring you face to face with the PolitiFact team and a long line-up of speakers who care about evidence, factuality and fact-checking. Our speakers already include Dr. Anthony Fauci, CNN's Brian Stelter and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, and we're adding more as we go. United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking will bring together leading fact-checkers, journalists, health care professionals and technology leaders for four days of discussion about the role of facts in our democracy, the spread of misinformation surrounding the COVID pandemic and how we all can better spread the truth to our friends and constituents in times of crisis. Each day of the festival, May 10-13, is broken down by theme: Monday, May 10 (3-5:30 p.m. ET): Facts and Democracy Tuesday, May 11 (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET): The COVID infodemic Wednesday, May 12 (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET): Big Tech, Big questions Thursday, May 13 (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET): Speaking the truth Want to join us? Here's what you need to do. Click on this link to go to our event page to buy tickets. Click on the green bar that says "Tickets." A prompt will appear that allows you to choose a general admission or VIP ticket. Early bird pricing of $25 ends Friday, so act now! Whether you can make the entire festival, or just a discussion or two, we're creating a virtual experience that we think will be worth the cost. By reserving a spot, you'll be supporting independent fact-checking and standing up for facts. The Latest from PolitiFact Biden team wrong on corporate taxes. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently made the case for President Joe Biden's proposal to increase the federal corporate income tax slightly, after President Donald Trump slashed the rate from 35% to 21%. "What Joe Biden is saying is, let's put it to a reasonable middle," she said. "Let's put us in line with other industrial nations, which is at 28%." We rated that Mostly False. Biden's proposed new tax rate for corporations would be either the top rate or in the top one-fifth of rates, depending on which metric you use. Rockies vs. Peach State voting access. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., took a swing at Major League Baseball's move of the All-Star Game, tweeting that Georgia offers 17 days for early voting compared with Colorado's 15 days. Georgia "has more day-of voting rights than Colorado," he said. We rated that Mostly False. The comparison doesn't account for Colorado's universal vote-by-mail option. When 94% of voters mail their ballots, early voting days play a nominal role in elections. And in Colorado, voters have more options to register and use dropboxes on election day. The strange case of Matt Gaetz. A Facebook post said U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was the lone vote in the House against an anti-human trafficking bill. We rated this True. In 2017, Gaetz was the lone vote against a bill that directed federal officials to take steps to combat human trafficking, including the creation of an advisory committee. Gaetz said that combating human trafficking was important, but he was against creating a new federal entity to do so. Gaetz has been in the news because the Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether he had a sexual relationship with an underaged girl. Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help   Yes, I support PolitiFact! Make a tax-deductible donation to make this message go away. From the Poynter Institute: '60 Minutes' and Ron DeSantis Poynter's senior media writer Tom Jones wrote this week about a "60 Minutes" report that suggested Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a favor to a campaign contributor on vaccine distribution.  Here's what Tom wrote:  "A story reported by Sharyn Alfonsi and produced by Oriana Zill de Granados suggested that Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis gave grocery chain Publix preferential treatment to distribute COVID-19 vaccines because Publix donated $100,000 to DeSantis' reelection campaign. "If that is true — if DeSantis ran a 'pay-for-play' scheme involving vaccinations for the coronavirus — that's an explosive story. But '60 Minutes' really didn't deliver substantial evidence that DeSantis did any such thing." Read more of Tom's critique of the report on the Poynter website. And sign up for his daily media newsletter if you'd like to read him regularly.  At PolitiFact, we looked at how "60 Minutes" edited video footage of DeSantis, and we interviewed Poynter expert Al Tompkins on the overall report.  Quick links to more fact-checks & reports  Fox Business reporter wrong about history of Sunday voting in Georgia U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin partly right that drug price hikes outpace inflation Roy Blunt incompletely characterizes Joe Biden's corporate tax rate proposal How vaccine passports might work in the US Do you smell smoke?  Here's your Pants on Fire fact-check of the week:  "mRNA is not a vaccine" — it's "actually an operating system" that's run by Bill Gates to program humans. See what else we've rated Pants on Fire this week.  Have questions or ideas for our coverage? Send me an email at holan@politifact.com. Put "Fact-checking" in the subject line. Thanks for reading! Angie Drobnic Holan  PolitiFact Editor-in-Chief  Send this link to your friends so they can sign up for this email! Copyright © 2021 PolitiFact, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website, attended one of our events, or communicated with us. Our mailing address is: PolitiFact 801 3rd St S 33701 St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Add us to your address book  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog  *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally