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Jeff PassanESPN
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has teamed up with the Los Angeles Dodgers to make Dodger Stadium a polling station for the November general election, marking the first time a Major League Baseball team has offered its facility as a polling station.
The initiative, announced Thursday afternoon, came after More Than a Vote – the group that James formed in late June to fight voter repression – partnered with the Dodgers, who used the stadium as a site for coronavirus testing and food distribution the last few months.
“Dodger Stadium is part of the Los Angeles fabric, and we are proud to continue working with the County to make the property available for the benefit of the community at large,” said Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten in a news release. “Voting is all our civic duty, and we are excited to work with More Than a Vote to do everything we can to help get the vote through this process equally easy, accessible and safe for all Angelenos.”
For the five days leading up to the November 3 election, all registered Los Angeles County voters will be able to park for free and vote at the stadium. The province enables voters to use one of the nearly 1,000 polling stations in the metropolis.
Although it is not clear whether the votes will be cast inside or outside the stadium, the groups plan to follow up on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regulations regarding social distance.
“I may still be new to LA, but it did not take me long to learn how special the relationship between the Dodgers and the Lakers is. We are all together in this,” James said in the news release. “I’m really proud we were able to help the Dodgers become the first MLB stadium to open for voting. This is exactly why we made More Than a Vote. Many of us are working together now and here for any team that wants to. follow the Dodgers’ lead and turn their stadium into a safer place for votes. “
James’ attempts to use expansive sports sites as polling stations have already taken root in the NBA. After the Atlanta Hawks announced in late June the use of State Farm Arena as a polling station for upcoming elections, the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons said they would do the same with their arenas. More than one vote hopes more baseball teams will designate their stadiums to serve as venues in November and beyond.
Among those involved in More Than a Vote is Dodgers starter David Price, who declined the 2020 season because of concerns about the coronavirus.
On the day James announced the founding of More Than a Vote, he told The New York Times: “Because of everything that is happening, people are finally starting to listen to us; we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door. “How long does it take us? We do not know. But we feel like we are getting ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
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