The Atlanta Hawks basketball team announced Monday that its headquarters, the State Farm Arena, will be transformed into the “largest precinct in history” in the state of Georgia later this year.
“We are proud to partner with Fulton County to give all registered residents of Fulton County the ability to vote early in our home,” the team tweeted Monday afternoon.
Starting July 20, State Farm Arena will become Georgia’s largest precinct.
We are proud to partner with Fulton County to give all registered residents of Fulton County the ability to vote early in our home.
Read more: https://t.co/03QIocUqtf pic.twitter.com/9zApOToQUH
– Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 29, 2020
According to NBA.com, the stadium will open as a precinct in time for early voting in late July before the runoff elections in late August.
The site reported that the 700,000-square-foot venue will also be used by the Fulton County Register and Elections to process absentee ballots and count votes.
The team’s CEO Steve Koonin reportedly came up with the idea of transforming the stadium into an electoral precinct after taking inspiration from recent protests against racism and police brutality that have swept across the country in the past few weeks after the murder. police officer George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and more African Americans.
“Let your voice be heard … go out and vote,” Koonin said shortly after Monday’s announcement. “We look forward to welcoming Fulton County voters to the State Farm Arena.”
Let your voice be heard … go out and vote. We look forward to welcoming Fulton County voters to the State Farm Arena https://t.co/1loKZE94RM
– Steve Koonin (@SteveKoonin) June 29, 2020
Koonin also provided more details on how the stadium would function as a precinct in the county, where voter suppression allegations exploded during the 2018 midterm elections in the weeks leading up to the upcoming presidential election.
“In October, we will provide a spacious and safe environment that will be good for social distancing. We may stagger according to CDC regulations. We will keep people moving fast. All staff will be in masks and there will be hand sanitizers throughout the building. This is not a library. This is a giant building with great connectivity, “he said in a statement to NBA.com.
“Our goal is to be a community asset, and to meet that goal, we need to be more than a basketball team,” Koonin continued.
Fulton County President Robb Pitts told the site that the location “will be a super bad location for Fulton County, and will in fact become our polling place.”
“This addition of State Farm Arena as an early voting location will enhance the voting experience for our citizens. We will go from the proverbial ‘worst’ to the first in November as a result of this collaboration, ”he added.
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