James’ group More Than a Vote has been working with major sports teams across the U.S. to convert empty stadiums into polling places that allow safe social distancing.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodger Stadium will serve as a vote center for the presidential election in November, making the Dodgers the first Major League Baseball team to make their venue available for voting. They join several NBA teams in serving as polling places this fall.
Any registered voter in Los Angeles County can visit the stadium over a five-day period. Parking will be free.
Further details will be announced later. The team said Thursday that all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health guidelines will be followed regarding social distancing.
The stadium site is a joint effort between the Dodgers and More Than A Vote, a nonprofit coalition of Black athletes and artists working together to educate, energize and protect young communities of color by fighting systemic voter suppression.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James helped created More Than A Vote. The group had already forged agreements with NBA and WNBA teams to utilize several basketball arenas for in-person voting with safe social distancing measures. Those include State Farm Arena in Atlanta (home of the NBA’s Hawks and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream), Little Caesars Arena in Detroit (home of the Pistons), and Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee (home of the Bucks).
All three arenas will also be providing poll worker training for their staff.
“We are all in this together,” James said in a statement. “This is exactly why we created More Than a Vote. A lot of us now working together and here for every team who wants to follow the Dodgers lead and turn their stadium into a safer place for voting.”
Dodger Stadium has been closed to the general public during the shortened 60-game season. However, the stadium and surrounding property have hosted county’s largest COVID-19 testing site and been a staging ground for emergency equipment and a food distribution site for those experiencing food insecurity.
Additional reporting was contributed by Kyle A. Valenta of Courier Newsroom.
