The Stadium Voting Snowball Grows

No, no. Life will not be stopped. Life finds a way.   Ian Malcolm   Jurassic Park

Recently, in an article about voting, I pointed out that while the GOP was trying everything in their power to suppress voting in every way they could, there were also others, including NBA superstar LeBron James were using their unique platform to make a positive change. I mentioned that the Atlanta Hawks, the city’s NBA team had thrown open the doors for the use of the stadium as a polling place for the primaries, and had promised to triple the capacity to 300 voting machines in time for election day.

The response to that in my comments was highly positive, with people saying they wished that more teams would sign on. Actually, at the time I wrote that, there were 5 teams committed to the project, the Hawks in Atlanta, the Pistons in Detroit, I believe the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, and I honestly can’t recall the other two. The teams are actively working with city and state election officials to ensure that everything was up and running, and properly staffed. The only thing that wasn’t clear was whether or not any of the facilities would also be open for state approved early voting days.

Well, another precinct has just been heard from. The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team just announced that they had signed on with James’s group, and would open Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine as a polling place on election day. They also plan to be up and staffed for voting on election day.

There is so much that is beautiful about this. For one thing, accessibility. Most major sports stadiums are centrally located, with ample parking, and more than adequate public transportation. Especially if they are open for early voting, there is all of the room in the world for social distancing, easing peoples fears of in person voting.

I don’t think that we’ve seen the end of this yet. Sports teams are in a unique situation. They require a positive relationship with their community if they want to attract fans and loyalty. As more teams sign on, and it gets greater publicity, I think it is highly likely that more teams will come under public community pressure to sign up, especially with Trump trying to tank confidence in mail in voting. The buildings are empty during the pandemic, and this would be an easy way to show civic engagement with the community.

But on a purely practical level, this has the potential to be a game changer, especially if the arenas are open for early voting. Basketball holds a special place in inner cities and under served areas simply because it’s universal. If you have ten kids hanging around, all you need is one kid with a basketball, and a hoop. And there are plenty of hoops around, since they’re inexpensive for cities to put up and maintain. Add in to that the number of star athletes that discovered and improved their skills on those same courts.

How many inner city young people do you think are out there that are between 18-25, say. Maybe they’re not even really interested in politics. But do you think they might decide to take a swing over to the arena to vote if they know it means that they get the chance to step out onto the same court that their childhood heroes took to every night to create their magic? I know I’d make the pilgrimage to the United Center just for the chance to walk out onto the floor and look up like I was in full uniform.

This is going to bear closer watching. With the count at 5 basketball teams and 1 baseball team, I think more will follow. And for practical purposes, many stadiums are in or near the downtown areas, convenient to the inner city voters that the Democrats need to turn out in high numbers in November. This is a great way for them to do it.

To know the future, look to the past.before the insanity of the 2020 election, relive the insanity of the 2016 GOP primary campaign, and the general election, to see how we got to where we are. Copies of President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange are available as e-books on Amazon, at the links above. Catch up before the upcoming release of the third book in the trilogy, President Evil III: All The Presidents Fen

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