With the presidential election less than three months away, the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James is stepping up his social activism.
As part of his More Than a Vote initiative, James has helped make one of the biggest sports venues in the Southland a polling place for the election.
“Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ voting-rights group has partnered with the Los Angeles Dodgers to make Dodger Stadium a polling place for the November general election, marking the first time a Major League Baseball team has offered its facility as a voting center, sources told ESPN,” wrote ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962 just five years after the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from the New York City borough of Brooklyn, is one of the most iconic buildings of any kind in the city.
With the stadium’s massive size, the hope seems to be that using it for voting will increase voter turnout in the most populous county in the nation.
James started More Than a Vote to help combat voter suppression. Many pundits, especially those on the left, have cited voter suppression as a major obstacle, especially since it tends to disproportionately affect low-income voters and people of color.
It’s not clear how exactly Los Angeles County residents will cast their ballots at Dodger Stadium, although ESPN reports that social-distancing recommendations will be practiced in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
