CLEVELAND — Yesterday was National Voter Registration Day, but for many people, the work continues to get people to register to vote. 

Sports teams are using their platforms and their facilities to encourage people to get out and vote. 

Those in the Cleveland community usually come to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to cheer on their beloved Cleveland Cavaliers. but Tuesday they entered the FieldHouse with another goal: to register to vote. The city’s sports teams, in partnership with Cleveland Votes and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, hosted a National Voter Registration Day event.

It was a nonpartisan event, giving all those who were eligible the opportunity to register to vote in the upcoming general election on Nov. 3.

“We always say that this is nonpartisan. You know, we’re not talking about or telling people who to vote for. You just want to make sure that Ohioans, and particularly here in Cuyahoga County, that our residents are informed, that they’re educated and that they’re prepared to cast their ballot,” said co-founder of Cleveland Votes Erica Anthony.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says more than 1.4 million Ohioans have requested absentee ballots. And events like this one gives safe voting access to residents, whether it be by  early and absentee voting or in-person election day voting. 

“We’re all—because of the pandemic—not interested in necessarily having a stranger walk up to us with a clipboard. Right? And so, we’ve had to find creative ways. Things like what the Cavaliers are doing here, we should continue that into 21 and 22 and 23 and in to the future long after this pandemic’s over because Ohio should have the highest voter registration rate in the country. That’s our goal, and we won’t rest until we get there,” LaRose says.

In the atrium of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, kiosks were set up for the public to confirm their voter registration status or register to vote, and complete an absentee/vote-by-mail application. Cleveland Cavaliers President of Business Operations Nic Barlage says this voter registration event is just as meaningful to the organization as games played on the court. 

“This signifies what we want to be about. We want to be about—we said this before—but we really do view Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as a community asset. And through this period of time, we want to use this as kind of Cleveland’s community center,” Barlage says.