Arenas prep to get out the vote
At least 20 NBA teams have announced plans to turn their arenas into voting centers for the November election.
An American flag flies in the breeze on Fourth of July in Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
At least 20 National Basketball Association teams have announced plans to turn their arenas into voting centers for the November election, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
This development is part of a social justice plan agreed to by the NBA and its players following a recent boycott of postseason play to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Other sports leagues joined the walkout, which gained international attention. Along with the voting centers in arenas, the agreement between the NBA and players includes creating a social justice coalition and new advertising that promotes more civic engagement in elections.
The playoff push continued after the agreement was reached, but the move to comply with the accord was swift, especially considering teams are large organizations. On Wednesday, the Orlando Magic announced their arena, the Amway Center, will be an early voting site, according to The Washington Post. The same report said the Amway Center will host a voter registration event on Sept. 22, and will then be open for early voting for all of Orange County each day from Oct. 19 through Nov. 1 to take early ballots.
Having this service set up in Florida alone is a major impact for the Nov. 3 general election, given the Sunshine State's pivotal role in presidential contests. But the national impact is clear when listing the other NBA teams that made similar commitments with their arenas: Brooklyn, Dallas, Houston, Indiana, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers (in two different arenas), Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Utah and Phoenix. The Post reported these other teams planned voting or registration centers even before the boycott: Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington and Sacramento.
An important focus of these plans is creating a safe environment for in-person voting during the pandemic. Fortunately, the NBA has learned a lot about wide-scale sanitation and safety, by creating the "bubble" in Walt Disney World in Orlando, where 22 out of 30 teams landed weeks ago to resume the season under strict health protocols. The NBA can easily share the knowledge it has gained from that experience with its teams as additional arena plans materialize.
This NBA initiative has been inspiring already, due to its broad impact, notably how it can reach a diversity of individuals and, just maybe, welcome people into the voting process who may not have ever trusted that their voice counts. It fits nicely with More Than a Vote, an organization co-founded by NBA superstar Lebron James, which is busy recruiting young poll workers in Black communities to boost access to voting.
Certainly, these efforts are no easy matter. Making a whole arena safe for voting during a pandemic is challenging, and getting people to participate poses its own hurdles these days. However, with the NBA’s powerful marketing arm behind it, this initiative could increase access to the vote by tens of thousands of people. In a close election, those votes could be the difference.
— Gareth Henderson
A bold step for change
It was an unprecedented moment in sports, when players took the reins completely, and forced the national spotlight to re-focus on racial justice.
When National Basketball Association teams boycotted playoff games last week to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, players expressed the desire to take concrete action for real change. With November right around the corner, it was encouraging to see players focus on protecting the right to vote in 2020.
The players and the league agreed to turn NBA arenas into polling places for the November election, as part of an accord to resume postseason play on Saturday. It’s also a move to fight voter suppression ahead of November’s vote, by improving access to safe, in-person voting. Also in the new agreement, NBA leadership said they would form a social justice coalition and create new advertising that promotes "greater civic engagement in national and local elections."
All this began after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play their playoff game against the Orlando Magic last Wednesday, in protest of the Aug. 23 police shooting of Blake, an unarmed Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Multiple gunshots from an officer left him paralyzed, and a state investigation is ongoing.
On Wednesday, events moved quickly: The Magic and other NBA teams followed the Bucks’ lead, and all that day’s games were postponed. Then other leagues joined the walkout, including the Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. The National Hockey League postponed playoff games later in the week, and some National Football League teams cancelled practices. With Thursday’s NBA games also postponed, the players met that day and agreed to continue the playoffs Saturday after the league agreed to the now-released plan.
The Bucks’ action led to an unprecedented moment in sports, when players took the reins completely, and forced the national spotlight to re-focus on racial justice and the importance of voting. If people want to make the biggest difference this year, it will be at the ballot box. The NBA’s strong, collective voice will have an important national impact, and the recent agreement with its players is a great step forward to ensure all people have access to the vote. This is the kind of decisive action the country needs in order to affect true change.
— Gareth Henderson