Sports Arenas Are the New Polling Sites for 2020 U.S. Elections

(Bloomberg) -- Basketball arenas that have sat dormant for months have found a new purpose: Voting. 

The Atlanta Hawks earlier this week said their facility, the State Farm Arena, would be used as a polling place for Georgia's primary run-off in August. On Wednesday, the Detroit Pistons announced they would convert their arena into a “super center” this fall, according to an announcement by More Than A Vote, a voting rights group headed by basketball star LeBron James and other prominent Black athletes.

The group is also in talks with the Milwaukee Bucks, and plans on reaching out to other teams about hosting election sites for this year's U.S. presidential election.

“The biggest need is for an efficient, timely way to vote, and hopefully that’s what we’re going to deliver to the City of Atlanta and Fulton County,” Atlanta Hawks Chief Executive Officer Steve Koonin said in an interview on the Bloomberg Business of Sports radio show. 

While states have adapted voting practices to keep people safe from Covid-19, in-person voting across the country hasn’t gone smoothly. Those who have tried to cast in-person ballots have faced hours long lines and confusion due to a reduced number of polling places. During Georgia’s June 9 primary, the state’s brand-new voting system had a meltdown, which prompted calls for an investigation. 

The sports centers are available because the spread of Covid-19 has delayed the NBA season, which normally runs from October to April, with the NBA finals in June. This year, teams will play a shortened season, scheduled to resume on July 30 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida with the next season expected to begin in December 2020.

The Hawks’s State Farm Arena will serve as a precinct for both the run-off election in August and open for early voting during the general election in November. Full-time arena staff will operate as poll workers. “We’re going to train our people who are professionals in the sports business to be professionals in the voting business,” Koonin said. 

In both cities, the arenas will adhere to social distancing recommendations to minimize the spread of Covid-19.  The Pistons will also partner with the Michigan Department of State and the City of Detroit on voter education initiatives. 

“Safe voting options are important any year, but especially this year,” said Jake Rollow, communications director for the Michigan Department of State. “To be able to have arenas available in addition to neighborhood polling places is just another way to ensure everybody knows that they can vote and vote safely on election day.” 

The initiative is the first major effort from James’s recently created voting rights group aimed at protecting the rights of Black and minority Americans. 

“We’ve had voter suppression for so long—people not understanding how they can vote, where they can vote, if their vote really counts,” James told Bloomberg Businessweek last month. “To educate, and to make people aware… has a lot to do with the future of our country.” 

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