Could Wake County (NC) voters cast their ballots at PNC Arena this fall?
Coronavirus is changing plenty about voting in the 2020 presidential elections. For people who live in Wake County, that might even mean going to vote at a sports stadium.
Local election officials are in talks with PNC Arena leaders about using the arena — home to the Carolina Hurricanes, N.C. State men’s basketball and plenty of big concerts — as a backup site for early voting, in case one or more of the county’s regular early voting sites has to be shut down due to COVID-19.
“No matter what, we can’t not be prepared,” Gary Sims, Wake County’s elections director, said on Thursday, shortly after some of his staffers toured the arena to see how feasible it would be as a polling place. He said they’re planning to have several potential backup sites this year.
Jeff Merritt is in charge of the Centennial Authority group, which runs PNC Arena. He said that with so many events being canceled in 2020, the arena is in a unique position to help out with the elections if needed.
“We have plenty of parking, and message boards to help direct people,” Merritt said, joking that maybe they’d even look into opening up some of the concession stands, too.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article244771807.html#storylink=cpy