According to nytimes.com, the collective of athletes headlined by NBA superstar LeBron James called More Than a Vote, announced Wednesday that its mission to increase the number of poll workers in Black electoral districts has already amassed 10,000 volunteers.
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To quote the New York Times:
The effort, which is called “We Got Next” and is a collaboration with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will be highlighted during the first game of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, the team featuring Mr. James.
During the game, first-time poll workers will be among the virtual fans, seated alongside basketball legends including Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal and Julius Erving.
In a release provided to The New York Times, More Than a Vote and the Legal Defense Fund said the second phase of their push would be more targeted, aimed at 11 cities “where significant poll worker shortages remain,” the release said.
Those cities include Black voter hubs in the South, like Birmingham, Jackson, Houston, San Antonio and Montgomery, as well as cities with significant Black populations in critical battleground states: Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Flint, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.
There has been a shortage of volunteer poll workers for in-person voting sites across the nation, due to COVID-19 and other factors. The dearth is particularly felt in Black communities, which have historically experienced longer wait times and have had fewer polling locations than many white communities.
Source: The NAACP and LeBron James’s “More Than A Vote” Initiative Attracts 10,000 Volunteer Poll Workers
