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Eric WoodyardESPN
In the upcoming August and November elections, Michigan residents will be able to use the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in Detroit as a “satellite center” to register and vote on site.
Both the Aug. 4 and Nov. 3 elections will be company-wide paid days off to staff members so they can vote and volunteer as election workers in the community. Rallying others to do the same is a big purpose.
“When I think about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the others that have been murdered, I think of how the dead can not cry out for justice, it is the duty of the living to do so for them,” Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem said. “And in our discussions with our players, coaching staff, employees, it’s how can we make ourselves heard and make our voices count, and to me, the vote is the most powerful way we can attack injustice and bring about change.”
The Detroit Pistons have also collaborated with the Michigan Secretary of State’s office to drive voter participation and awareness in addition building a voter registration page into the Pistons.com website.
“Voting is such a right that sometimes I know the younger generation takes for granted, but for us older folks it’s something that I remember when my grandparents couldn’t vote and talked about [when they] couldn’t vote,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “So, one reason why we’re opening up, too, is to encourage everyone to get out and vote. That’s a right, it’s a privilege that we should never take for granted and also, too, if we want to impact change, that’s one opportunity we have that we can impact change with.”
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is pushing for other professional sports teams to become polling sites for the November general election through his More Than A Vote organization to fight against voter suppression.
In Georgia, the Fulton County election officials this week approved the Atlanta Hawks’ proposal to use State Farm Arena as a massive polling station for Georgia’s primary runoff election on Aug. 11 and early voting for the general election scheduled for Nov. 3.
The Milwaukee Bucks have also committed to making Fiserv Forum available.
“We’re excited to partner with @morethanavote to make Fiserv Forum available as a potential voting site,” Bucks senior vice president Alex Lasry wrote on Twitter. “We’re looking forward to working with the City of Milwaukee, in any capacity that we can, to ensure ppl can safely exercise their right to vote!”