Source: Mike Ehrmann / Getty
With less than a month until the 2020 Presidential election, we’re in the last stretch to get people registered.
Celebrities are coming together to make sure everyone gets to the polls– and that includes LeBron James and Michelle Obama. The organizations When We All Vote, which Obama helped launched in 2018, and More Than a Vote, which James helped found to stop black voter suppression.
But more than just vote, Obama and James want people to cast their vote early to make sure it counts because the coronavirus has led to longer lines than usual because of a lack of poll workers, which deters people from waiting their turn.
“Millions of Americans have already cast their ballot and with only 21 days until Election Day,” Obama told The Associated Press in a statement. “Making your plan to vote early is critical.”
To make things a bit easier for people voting early, the organizations are offering transportation, information, entertainment, and other resources at early voting sites around the country from October 18 to October 31.
“It’s now up to us to do everything in our power to get our friends and family ready to vote early and safely together,” Obama’s statement continued. “We can’t leave anyone behind.”
James, like his teammate Kyle Kuzma, understands that for some people of color, they don’t understand how important it is to vote.
“Black people in the community don’t believe that their vote matters,” James said. “We grow up and don’t think that our vote actually matters. It doesn’t. We’ve seen recounts before. We’ve seen our voices be muted our whole lives.”
James’ More Than a Vote donated $100,000 to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to help pay outstanding debts of former felons so that they can register to vote. The group has also enlisted other NBA players like Damian Lillard, Draymond Green, Trae Young, Ben Simmons, C.J. McCollum, Jaylen Brown, and Kyle Lowry.
