Over 100+ Venues Being Explored as Polling Sites
Paid Time Off for Employees to Vote and Volunteer as Poll Workers
Promoting Voter Registration and Voter Turn-out via Civic Engagement Campaigns
Live
Nation today announced several initiatives to encourage civic engagement and
support access to voting in the 2020 elections. These initiatives include using
Live Nation-owned concert venues as polling places, providing employees with paid
time off to vote, incentivizing employees to serve as poll workers, and partnering
with organizations on voter access and educational efforts.
“Core
to what we do at Live Nation is helping amplify voices on stage around the
world, and supporting voting is another important way we want to continue
making voices heard,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live
Nation. “We’re honored to work with such incredible partners and will do
everything in our power to support and empower voter engagement among our
employees and the public.”
Live
Nation is working with local officials to examine the feasibility of using more
than 100 Live Nation venues across the country as polling places. To date, The
Wiltern and Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Emo’s in Austin and the
Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta are confirmed to serve as polling sites in their
respective jurisdictions, and The Fillmore has been offered with warm reception
to serve its local neighborhood in Philadelphia and is in the final stages of
the vetting process.
“Live
Nation is going above and beyond by recognizing that elections are about more
than just polling places. They’re about our communities,” said Al Schmidt,
City Commissioner of Philadelphia. “Live Nation is really stepping up to
help during this challenging time – and we are grateful.”
“We
are proud to partner with Live Nation and announce The Hollywood Palladium and
The Wiltern will be Vote Centers in the upcoming Presidential General
Election,” said Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County
Clerk. “Live Nation has stepped up to the mic in providing our community
safe in-person voting experiences at two iconic music venues. It is
collaborations such as this that demonstrate the spirit of community engagement
and the strength of our democracy.”
To
support these efforts, the company is partnering with More Than A Vote,
a coalition of Black athletes and artists dedicated to protecting voting
rights, and Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of businesses
working together to build a future where everyone can vote, volunteer, and take
action to shape our country.
“By
converting their concert venues into voting locations, Live Nation is creating
a safe and convenient way for people to exercise their right to vote this
fall,” said Michael Tyler, EVP of Public Affairs More Than A Vote.
“Similar to the sports arenas More Than A Vote has worked to convert into
voting locations, many of Live Nation’s venues are located in the heart of the
communities that we are committed to empowering in this election and offer the
same COVID protections due to their large capacity.”
As
it usually does, Live Nation will provide up to one half-day of paid time off
to all employees on Election Day. Furthermore, in an effort to address the
national shortage of poll workers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Live Nation
will provide any active employee with a full day of paid time off to serve at
the polls. The company is partnering with Power the Polls to track
employee participation and meet the needs for poll workers in communities
across the nation.
Leading
up to Election Day, Live Nation has also partnered with HeadCount, a
non-partisan organization to use the power of music and amplify artist voices
to inspire fans to register to vote and promote participation in democracy. Citizens
can visit www.headcount.org/livenation to check their voter registration status
and learn how to exercise their right to vote in November.
About Live Nation Entertainment
Live
Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment
company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts,
and Live Nation Media & Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.
About More Than A Vote
More
than a Vote, a non-profit coalition of Black athletes and artists working
together to educate, energize and protect young communities of color by
fighting the lies and systemic, racist voter suppression that stands in the way
of Black voices being heard.
About the Civic Alliance
The
Civic Alliance is a nonpartisan business coalition that strengthens our
democracy by supporting safe, trusted, and accessible elections and inspiring
every American to participate in shaping our country’s future. Founded by the
CAA Foundation and Democracy Works, the Civic Alliance cultivates a community
of companies united by a shared belief that an active democracy is good for
business and an engaged business community is good for democracy. With its
valuable tools, resources, events, and partnership opportunities, the Civic
Alliance helps its more than 150 member companies engage their employees and
consumers as active participants in civic life. Join us at civicalliance.com.
About Power the Polls
Power the Polls is a first-of-its-kind initiative
to recruit poll workers to ensure a safe, fair election for all voters. Amidst
a nationwide poll worker shortage, Power the Polls is part of the solution
through education, recruitment, and business engagement. Power the Polls was
launched in June 2020 by a coalition of businesses and nonprofits,
including Civic Alliance, Comedy
Central, Fair Elections
Center, Levi Strauss & Co, MTV, Patagonia, Pizza to the Polls, Time To Vote, Uber, and We Can Vote. The website utilizes data from Work Elections, a unique website developed by Fair
Elections Center that centralizes information on poll worker requirements and
links to applications for more than 4,000 election jurisdictions around the
country.
About HeadCount.org
HeadCount is a non-partisan, non-profit
organization that promotes participation in democracy through music, culture,
and digital media. Since 2004 the organization has registered over 700,000
voters and worked with a long list of musicians and partners including Ariana
Grande, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Dave Matthews Band, JAY-Z, Beyoncé,
March for Our Lives, RuPaul’s DragCon, MTV, and Dead & Company. With 40,000
volunteers, street teams in most major U.S. cities, and presence at more than
1,000 events each year, HeadCount ranks as one of the most active grassroots
civic participation organizations in the United States. Following COVID-19
restrictions, the organization quickly pivoted to an all-digital approach that
led to innovation and online initiatives to fill the needs of the public in
using their voices in democracy. For more information, visit HeadCount.org.
Contact
Kaitlyn
Henrich
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