AT&T Stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, served as a polling location in 2020
In 2020, election officials scrambled to adapt voting processes to a socially distanced world during an exceptionally charged presidential election. They found an unlikely partner in major and minor league sports teams, which opened their stadium doors to create safe and convenient polling sites. That November, 48 stadiums and arenas across the U.S. were used for voting, and Tova Wang, senior researcher in democratic practice at the Ash Center, wondered “if this was having any impact on the process.” As a voting rights and elections expert (and self-described “very big sports fan”), she began working with four other scholars to evaluate the experience and effectiveness of voting at sports facilities.
“We did a report … demonstrating how amazing this all went for everybody—for the election administrators, for voters, the teams loved it,” she said, speaking at a virtual event on stadium voting hosted by University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “It was just terrific all around because the administrators had these spaces that were huge. They could have a lot of machines, and there was plenty of parking. The teams … they know how to make lines move.” She noted, too, that it was often an enjoyable experience — which is not always the case for in-person voting.
Scott Pioli, former NFL executive and current NFL analyst and consultant, and Wang’s partner on the project, joined the discussion. Pioli, a long-time advocate for equity, social justice, and civic engagement, recalled his involvement in efforts to use sports facilities as voting centers. When he moved to Georgia for a job with the Atlanta Falcons, he went to vote at his closest polling station in 2014. There, he waited in near sub-freezing temperatures in the rain for over an hour and finally had to leave. He drove to a more affluent area, where he was greeted with refreshments, and then voted immediately.
Distressed by his experience, he recalled thinking, “We’ve got this stadium here, we’ve got this arena here, we’ve got all this stuff built right in the middle of these communities where there’s a lot of people that are marginalized in many ways … [so] why aren’t we using these facilities that are built with taxpayer dollars? … Why don’t we use these facilities that are built by the people for the people?” Pioli brought his suggestions to the nonprofit RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality), where he serves as a board member, “and it started this whole conversation.”
There's not a lot that's fun right now about elections; it's very, very, very stressful. And I think that these kinds of partnerships, again can be … a feel-good thing for everybody
Tova Wang
Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice
Ultimately, stadium voting in 2020 proved immensely successful. Wang noted, “There’s not a lot that’s fun right now about elections; it’s very, very, very stressful. And I think that these kinds of partnerships, again can be … a feel-good thing for everybody.” Pioli echoed her sentiment, adding that the teams also benefited from the experience because “it gave them an opportunity to truly live, for a day or more, the value that most teams talk about, which is engaging with their community at a grassroots level.” He mentioned the irony of taxpayers funding spaces they often can’t afford to visit and how stadium voting provides a rare opportunity to make these spaces accessible to all.
The most noteworthy finding from the study was the overarching sense that stadium voting worked well for everyone, regardless of partisan divides, background, or beliefs. “None of these people reported back to us that they got serious blowback on social media or emails … which is pretty striking,” said Wang. “For teams and corporations — because they are ultimately corporations who may be leery about getting involved in anything given the political climate — it seems like this is a way they can … give back to the community and be part of upholding democracy.”
Looking to the future, Wang said they’re hoping to make voting at sports facilities “bigger and better” this year. While a lot of election-related decisions are “very fluid right now,” added Pioli, “… I would say that this year as much as any year, [stadium voting] is increasing and the availability and the desire to do so has increased. So, I think there’s a real opportunity for folks out there.”
When former Vice President Mike Pence visited Harvard’s Institute of Politics for a discussion on “The Future of Conservatism and American Democracy,” he was introduced not just by a moderator, but by a longtime friend and admirer — Ash Center Senior Fellow Stephen Richer. A former Republican officeholder, Richer has often cited Pence as a personal role model for integrity and constitutional fidelity. Their friendship added a layer of warmth and sincerity to an evening that balanced deep ideological reflection with a spirit of civility and mutual respect.
This week on Term of Engagement, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer explore and debate the boundaries of free speech, threats to it, and the impact on our democracy.
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