CLEVELAND, Ohio — With heightened safety measures to consider like social distancing and sanitation, Mike West of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said preparing for the 2020 election during a pandemic presents its challenges.
One of those challenges include polling location adjustments.
“One of the first things we had to do was find about 50 new locations to vote at because during the pandemic, we can’t use senior apartment buildings or assisted living centers and things like that so we rose to the occasion and we found a new places for people to vote,” West said.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, the city of Cleveland, and the county Board of Elections have teamed up to provide Cleveland’s 3rd ward residents the opportunity to cast an in-person ballot at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which is owned by Cuyahoga County and managed by the Cavaliers. West said the move took months of negotiation and could impact the way elections are held in the county for years to come.
“We are really excited about having the arena. It’s kind of a novelty—maybe it will be a normal thing. It was really nice to work with the sports teams and their representatives and it’s good to see that they’re really on board with encouraging everybody to participate in the democratic process,” West said.
Devonta Dickey is the advocacy and engagement coordinator for Cleveland Votes, an organization aimed at expanding voter registration, accessibility and participation. Cleveland Votes partnered with the Board of Elections and the Cavaliers to push for the FieldHouse polling location, a decision Dickey said was not only necessary, but a “no-brainer.”
“What happens when you have to have a certain amount of square footage, where you have to adhere to six-foot distance in line as well as the voting machines? It’s a no-brainer because … no one should have to choose between their health and their ability to exercise their right to vote, and I think that is the overarching goal,” Dickey said.
The Cavaliers are following in the footsteps of teams like the Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings and the Atlanta Hawks, who have also offered their arenas as polling locations. Arenas have sat empty for months due to a delayed NBA season. These announcements came shortly after LeBron James launched “More Than A Vote,” a nonprofit organization committed to supporting Black voters.
“The ability to elevate voting—civic engagement is not hard. And so it’s amazing that you find celebrities, sports athletes such as LeBron James, getting involved in this work, and saying, ‘OK, hey, what does it look like when we practice civic engagement every single day—not just during this time, not just between now and November 3, but let me utilize my resources and build equity into these into these communities and cities that I have a strong affinity for and towards,’” Dickey said.
