NBA’s State Farm Arena Becoming A Polling Place For ‘Tens Of Thousands Of Voters’
Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 12:22AM NYSJ Sports-Entertainment Business News Service
June 29, 2020: NBA games will not be played in their home arenas, and venues are canceling concerts and other events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, State Farm Arena, home to the Atlanta Hawks, plans to be used for a good cause even without the team and concerts: A polling precinct for “tens of thousands of voters.”
Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority executives said they would partner with the Hawks to create “Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct” in State Farm Arena, starting with early voting on July 20 for the Georgia General Primary Runoff Election on Aug 11 as well as November’s General Elections.
The Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority, a government agency, is the owner of the property and leases the site to the Atlanta Hawks organization.
“This unique partnership will allow tens of thousands of voters to cast their ballots for upcoming elections while maintaining CDC-recommended social distancing requirements at the state-of-the-art facility.”
Fulton County Registration & Elections will also conduct other elections support operations at the site, including absentee ballot processing.
The move to open State Farm Arena as a voting precinct is potentially seen as a significant solution to voting problems being experienced in the state.
Voting during primary elections in Georgia earlier this month was described as “chaos that left some voters waiting as long as eight hours to cast ballots,” according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, due to faulty equipment, untrained staff, lack of polling places and other conflicts.
In addition to offering the venue, hundreds of Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena full-time and part-time employees will be trained to serve as election workers to further support the operations, according to the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority.
Fulton County said that Jeff Parker, CEO for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, has approved reopening the MBS / State Farm Arena / Georgia World Congress Center / CNN Center MARTA station, providing additional access.
To provide greater accessibility to voting, the Hawks Foundation will be providing free parking at more than 1,500 parking spots surrounding the arena for vehicles with a voter.
The move comes as LeBron James and other athletes and celebrities have united to form ‘”More Than A Vote,” to encourage voter registration and expose situations aimed to keep minorities from voting.
“When our ownership group purchased the Hawks and State Farm Arena five years ago, we were clear that we felt it was our responsibility to make sure the organization was an important civic asset to the city of Atlanta,” Tony Ressler, Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena principal owner, said via the team.
“Utilizing State Farm Arena and our incredible staff to make the arena an accessible and vital polling site in an important election year is a fulfillment on that promise.”
According to Robb Pitts, Fulton County chairman, “Fulton County is grateful to the entire Atlanta Hawks organization for being an outstanding partner. Tony Ressler, (Hawks CEO) Steve Koonin and their organization have once again demonstrated that the Hawks are True to Atlanta.”
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