The 2020 election is just around the corner, and athletes are trying to help get out the vote.
LeBron James’ organization “More Than a Vote” is expected to announce a multimillion-dollar campaign to help recruit poll workers for the upcoming election in November, according to The New York Times’ Astead W. Herdon.
The group reportedly will work with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to promote the program in key battleground states where disenfranchisement impacts Black voters like Georgia, Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin.
“More Than a Vote” formed in June after athletes expressed concerns over the Wisconsin primary after in-person polling locations were scaled back significantly and mail-in ballots were difficult to come by.
Atlanta Dream guard Renee Montgomery, who currently is sitting out of the 2020 WNBA season to focus on her political activism, hopes participating in the campaign will help bring about change.
“I felt like I needed to do something in my community,” Montgomery said, via Herdon. “We can’t just protest. We have a responsibility to take those protests and take that energy and march all the way to the polls.
“I live in Atlanta, so this issue is right on my front door,” she added. “We have the long lines, it’s condensed and COVID is being used as a way to have voter suppression.”
The election is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
