Atlanta Hawks to transform State Farm Arena into massive voting station for 2020 elections

Georgia's primary election exposed a myriad of issues of voting during a pandemic, beginning with long wait times and including malfunctioning equipment. 

The problems, particularly prevalent in precincts used by Black voters, caught the attention of NBA stars such as LeBron James — and the hometown team, the Atlanta Hawks.

On Monday, the Hawks and Fulton County announced that State Farm Arena will become a polling place to create Georgia's largest-ever voting precinct. The venue's large indoor spaces offers officials the ability to install hundreds of voting machines and to adhere the CDC guidelines.

“State Farm Arena is an ideal solution to help us serve thousands of voters while maintaining social distancing requirements,” said Mary Carole Cooney, chairperson of the Fulton County Board of Registration & Elections. “We appreciate the Hawks for coming to us with this creative solution.”

Ballots can start being cast at State Farm Arena on July 20, when early voting for the Georgia runoff election (Aug. 11) begins. Voters can park for free, and State Farm Arena full-time and part-time staff will be trained as election workers.

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Officials anticipate using the arena for other election operations, such as counting absentee and mail-in forms. 

"When our ownership group purchased the Hawks and State Farm Arena five years ago, we were clear that we felt it was our responsibility to make sure the organization was an important civic asset to the city of Atlanta," Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler said in a statement. "Utilizing State Farm Arena and our incredible staff to make the arena an accessible and vital polling site in an important election year is a fulfillment on that promise."