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NFL: SoFi Stadium in L.A. Transforming Into Voting Center for Presidential Election

The brand new SoFi Stadium that will normally host NFL games is being transformed into a voting center for use during the November presidential election, stadium officials said Tuesday. The stadium was just completed for the 2020 season and is the home of both the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.

The voting center will be located next to the stadium for five days ahead of the election. The polling place will open from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 (10 a.m. PT to 7 p.m. PT) and on Tuesday, Nov. 3 (7 a.m. PT to 8 p.m. PT), according to the announcement.

“We are proud to work with the Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk to turn SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park into a Vote Center,” said managing director Jason Gannon. “Our goal is to help expand polling access for our local community and the greater Los Angeles region, providing Angelenos with more locations and greater ease of access to exercise their right to vote.”

Registered voters in Los Angeles County can take advantage of the newly recognized voting center. There are some guidelines voters must follow though. Specifically, voters are required to wear face masks and will have access to gloves. Officials said the center will be cleaned constantly during the day and sanitized nightly due to COVID-19 concerns.

SoFi Stadium is not the only NFL stadium to open a polling place on its premises for the election. In fact, 14 out of the 32 NFL franchises have announced plans to host polling activities during the election season.

Earlier in September, the NFL and NFL Players Association reported a joint venture to support nonpartisan voter education, registration and election participation. Furthermore, all 32 teams will close their facilities on Election Day to allow players and personnel to vote.

The $5 billion SoFi Stadium opened on Sept. 8 after years of planning and construction. Both the Rams and Chargers played their first NFL home games at the field in recent weeks as the 2020 season began.

NFL and NBA Both Using Stadiums As Voting Centers

Although 14 NFL teams are using their stadiums for voting during the election, other leagues like the NBA are doing the same. Likewise, 21 NBA teams are utilizing their arenas and transforming them into voting centers.

NBA players who went on strike in August chose to return to play after meeting with the league and finding common ground. Supposedly, NBA players and league executives worked together on a plan to save the season.

The players suggested a list of “actionable items” they wanted the NBA to support for the games to proceed. Accordingly, turning the NBA’s home courts into polling centers was one of the “actionable items” on the list. The players returned to play after the meeting, and the playoffs are currently in the conference finals.

[H/T FOX News]

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