MLB All-Star balloting opens with changes

Election season for baseball's All-Star Game opened Tuesday with a new format and a new online voting method. Fans now will vote twice for the All-Star starters. The first part of the process, called The Primary, features a full ballot of players nominated by their teams and is open through June 21 at 4 p.m. Balloting began at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Fans choose their favorites, with the top three at each position (nine outfielders per league) moving on to the final round, called The Starters Election. Voting in that phase runs for 28 hours, beginning June 26 at noon ET. Major League Baseball has teamed with Google for the balloting process, and fans have two ways to vote. They can do so on MLB platforms, including MLB.com, all team sites and MLB apps, or on Google's search function (available in the U.S. and Canada only) by entering the word "Vote" and following that by a player's name, such as "Vote Bryce Harper."

There are limits on how many times per day fans may vote. The finalists from The Primary will be announced June 21 during the game between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees on MLB Network. The Starters Election winners will be unveiled June 27 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The remainder of the rosters, as selected by National League manager Dave Roberts and American League manager Alex Cora, will be announced June 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Fans no longer will be voting for the final roster spot for each league.

Fox will televise the game, which will be played July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. --Field Level Media