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100-Plus Live Nation Venues Being Explored As Polling Places For 2020 Elections
Courtesy Live Nation –
Live Nation today announced initiatives to encourage civic engagement and support access to voting in the 2020 elections, with as many as 100 Live Nation-owned concert venues potentially becoming polling places.
“Core to what we do at Live Nation is helping amplify voices on stage around the world, and supporting voting is another important way we want to continue making voices heard,” Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “We’re honored to work with such incredible partners and will do everything in our power to support and empower voter engagement among our employees and the public.”
Live Nation is working with local officials to use more than 100 Live Nation venues across the country as polling places. Already confirmed to be used as polling sites are The Wiltern and Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Emo’s in Austin and the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta. The announcement notes the Fillmore in Philadelphia has been offered and received warm reception from local officials.
“Live Nation is going above and beyond by recognizing that elections are about more than just polling places. They’re about our communities,” said Al Schmidt, City Commissioner of Philadelphia. “Live Nation is really stepping up to help during this challenging time – and we are grateful.”
“We are proud to partner with Live Nation and announce The Hollywood Palladium and The Wiltern will be Vote Centers in the upcoming Presidential General Election,” said Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. “Live Nation has stepped up to the mic in providing our community safe in-person voting experiences at two iconic music venues. It is collaborations such as this that demonstrate the spirit of community engagement and the strength of our democracy.”
To support these efforts, the company is partnering with More Than A Vote, a coalition of Black athletes and artists dedicated to protecting voting rights, and Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of businesses working together to build a future where everyone can vote, volunteer, and take action to shape our country.
“By converting their concert venues into voting locations, Live Nation is creating a safe and convenient way for people to exercise their right to vote this fall,” said Michael Tyler, EVP of Public Affairs More Than A Vote. “Similar to the sports arenas More Than A Vote has worked to convert into voting locations, many of Live Nation’s venues are located in the heart of the communities that we are committed to empowering in this election and offer the same COVID protections due to their large capacity.”
Other initiatives from Live Nation include providing up to one half-day of paid time off to all employees on Election Day, and encouraging employees to serve at the polls. The company is partnering with Power the Polls to track employee participation and meet the needs for poll workers in communities across the nation.
Live Nation has also partnered with non-partisan organization HeadCount to inspire fans to register to vote and promote participation in democracy.
Citizens can visit www.headcount.org/livenation to check their voter registration status and learn how to exercise their right to vote in November.