*The National Basketball Association aims to encourage Americans to get out and vote on Election Day for the 2022 midterms so the league will not hold any games on November 8.
“The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections,” the league said in a tweet.
One Twitter user commented under the post, “Good. They can sit at home and watch as repubs start to take everything back over.”
Another said, “I could see Republicans hating this- they assume the NBA is woke & will only be encouraging fans to vote Blue, even though they clearly state this is a bipartisan just go out and vote message. But encouraging more black people to vote is something Republicans hate in principle.”
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The NBA today announced that no games will be played on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections. https://t.co/nFiEHlws0Q
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 16, 2022
The league’s 30 teams will play in games the Monday before Election Day to promote civic engagement and encourage fans and staff to vote, NBC News reports.
“It’s unusual. We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event,” James Cadogan, the executive director of the NBA’s social justice coalition, told NBC, which first reported the league’s Election Day schedule plan. “But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy.”
All 435 U.S. House seats and numerous U.S. Senate and governorships will be up for grabs in the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 3.
“The NBA is creating a culture of political participation, which extends not only to its athletes but to fans as well,” said Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org, which has partnered with the NBPA on various initiatives in recent years, per a release from the NBA. “Players, coaches, event staff and fans all deserve to have the time and space to make their voices heard at the ballot box. The league is setting an important precedent that I hope other businesses and leagues will follow.”
The NBA’s full schedule for the season will be released Wednesday.
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