The Hornets are serious about voting. They’ll drive voters to the polls and find childcare
Long before it became an NBA-wide directive last week, the Charlotte Hornets went all-in on voting initiatives.
Friday, the league asked all 30 franchises to consider offering arenas as possible polling sites in the November election. The Hornets already sought and received approval for Spectrum Center to be a large early-voting site for Mecklenburg County. In addition, the Hornets are leading a registration and voter-access campaign they’re calling “Swarm the Polls.”
Through a link on the team’s website (https://www.nba.com/hornets/go-vote), the Hornets plan to assist people in North and South Carolina in checking if they’re registered to vote, how to register, where they would vote in the Nov. 3 election and how to apply for an absentee ballot.
This is part of the social-justice agenda that owner Michael Jordan advocated for in June, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Jordan and his Nike division, Jordan Brand, have pledged $100 million over the next 10 years to address what he describes as “ingrained racism’ in society.
“We have been beaten down (as Black Americans) for so many years,” Jordan, the NBA’s only Black majority owner, told The Observer on June 5. “It sucks your soul. You can’t accept it anymore. This is a tipping point. We need to make a stand. We’ve got to be better as a society regarding race.”
The first three grants from Jordan’s pledge included money to support voting-rights efforts.
“Michael has spoken loudly about voting, and how important he feels like it is. It’s not just him; it permeates throughout our organization,” Hornets President Fred Whitfield told The Observer.
Shortly after Floyd died in late May, with a policeman kneeling on his neck, Whitfield contacted Charlotte city manager Marcus Jones about offering the uptown Spectrum Center arena as a polling place. The Hornets manage the city-owned Spectrum Center. Several other NBA teams — the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons — similarly offered their facilities over the past few months.
The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections approved Spectrum Center, Bank of America Stadium and Bojangles Arena as early-voting sites, noting the large spaces would be helpful in social-distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reopen arena
Early voting Oct. 15 through 31 will be the first time Spectrum Center has been opened to the public since the pandemic shut down the NBA season March 11.
“We’ve missed hosting games and hosting concerts (but) I can’t really think of any better way to have us open our doors for the first time (since the pandemic) to our community,” Whitfield said.
Betsy Mack, the Hornets’ senior director of corporate social responsibility, is coordinating this arena use. Mack said the board of elections is still deciding how many voting machines Spectrum Center can house, with respect to social distancing.
Some details on the arena as a polling place, according to Mack:
▪ Voters will be asked to wear face coverings, and masks will be provided for those requesting, but masks can’t be required to vote.
▪ Voting machines will be sanitized between each voter’s use.
▪ Only Mecklenburg County residents can cast early votes at Spectrum Center.
▪ The Hornets have consulted with the Department of Health and Human Services, along with private sanitation experts, on best practices for safely opening the arena for this purpose. If there is a COVID-19 outbreak, the arena would be closed again until deemed safe for voting.
▪ The arena will be open seven days a week for voting the second half of October. The team is arranging for some free parking uptown to cast votes.
More than a venue
In addition to opening Spectrum Center for early voting, the Hornets have several other programs planned in preparation for the election:
Coach James Borrego will lead a virtual town hall meeting Sept. 15. The public can participate in this event via the Hornets’ website.
The Hornets plan an outreach to communities with high poverty, noting research that those communities typically have low voter turnout. The team will offer transportation options in order to vote and work with non-profits on childcare to facilitate voting.
Hornets employees will have a paid holiday on election day, and have been encouraged to volunteer at polling sites or in the community that day.
Whitfield called this an extension of previous outreach, such as Jordan funding two health clinics in under-served Charlotte neighborhoods.
“It all is connected: Education is a big piece of it. Quality heath care for all. Hunger,” Whitfield said. “It’s about us as an organization, starting with Michael, asking how we can give back to people in our community who really need our help.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 10:00 AM with the headline "The Hornets are serious about voting. They’ll drive voters to the polls and find childcare."
