Hawks compete with Warriors, Clippers to encourage voter registration

ajc.com

Credit: Atlanta Hawks

Credit: Atlanta Hawks

Continuing their efforts to increase voting rights and voter participation, the Hawks are set to compete with the Warriors and Clippers in a “Voters Win” campaign. The teams will partner with the ‘I am a Voter’ campaign and the Good Trouble campaign (named for the late civil rights icon John Lewis) to see which of them can get the most fans to make a pledge to vote using the platform.

The competition will involve four “quarters,” and at the end of each quarter, the team that has collected the most fan pledges to vote (fans participate by texting HAWKS to 26797 to either register to vote or verify that they’re already registered) will receive the John Lewis: Good Trouble Trophy.

“The Voters Win competition is a fun way to encourage fans to use their voices and exercise their right to vote. It’s incredibly important that every member of our community, that is of age, is registered to vote and with 82 days left until the general election, the time is now to make sure you are ready for November,” CEO Steve Koonin said.

Ultimately, the last quarter of the competition will end Nov. 3, which is Election Day.

“The right to vote is one of the strongest voices our population has to use,” Warriors president and COO Rick Welts said. “We are 82 days away from the November 2020 Election Day and we intend to use every single day to promote voter education and participation efforts.”

The Hawks have expanded their efforts on voting rights in recent months, transforming State Farm Arena into the largest-ever voting precinct in Georgia. The arena served voters during the Georgia primary runoff election and will be an early-voting precinct for the general election in November. Many NBA teams, including the Hornets, Kings and Pistons have followed suit.