SAN ANTONIO — The home of the Spurs will be accomodating San Antonians exercising their civic duty this fall.
At Thursday evening's daily coronavirus response briefing, Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez confirmed that the AT&T Center will be utilized as a mega-voting site for the general election, as leaders continue finding ways to make voting as safe and accessible as possible during the ongoing pandemic.
It will be the first time the AT&T Center has been used as a voting site.
"The commissioners' court has been working very hard to make sure we modernize, (that) we make elections more accessible and – in particular during COVID – that we make them safe," Rodriguez said.
The stadium will be available as a voting site for the extended early voting period as well as on Election Day in November.
The move is one of several the county is considering as part of its "SMART Elections Initiative" (the acronym standing for safe, modern, accessible, reliable and transparent). Other possibilities include mailing ballots to all registered voters over 65 years old and increasing the number of curb-side voting options.
Rodriguez said drive-by, drop-off voting is another option, but "there's still some question as to whether we can do that," due to the elections code. And, he said, local health leaders would have to give the green light.
"Obviously we need to make sure that, whatever we decide, public health guidance is driving that decision."
