Levi’s Stadium becomes Santa Clara County’s newest vote center

Levi’s Stadium will become a vote center for the general election for Santa Clara County from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.

The San Francisco 49ers are partnering with the county Registrar of Voters Shannon Bushey, Black voter organization More Than a Vote and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to offer voting at the stadium.

“This year is different. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of our daily life in every sector of society —  I know there’s a lot of fans that can’t wait to get back to the stadium and watch the game in person— elections are not immune, either,” Padilla said.

With 35 days until Election Day, people can register to vote and fill out their ballot on the same day at the vote center. The stadium will also serve as a ballot drop-off location.

The vote center will be in the stadium’s SAP atrium, said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez. The stadium will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily starting Oct. 31 and extend its hours to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3.

“You can feel comfortable and safe voting here,” Chavez said. “And not to mention it’s a great way to revisit your favorite stadium.”

49ers President Al Guido dubbed the county’s newest vote center “2 million square feet of opportunity” for people to vote.

“There were 100 million people plus that were registered to vote in 2016 that did not,” Guido said. “I hope that this facility and this opportunity and the ability to do so in a safe environment allows people to come out and feel more comfortable to do so in person.”

Guido said people would need to park in the Great America parking lot and walk to the stadium.

Officials from the county and 49ers did not specify how many voters, staff members and volunteers would be allowed in the vote center at a time, nor did they specify how many voting machines would be in the stadium, but said there would be enough space to social distance.

The county has also created a ballot drop-off station at SAP Center, Chavez said.

Chavez told San José Spotlight the county will look into other stadium locations to use as vote centers, such as San Jose State’s CEFCU Stadium, but said professional teams probably have more staff for voting officials to depend on given college campuses remain closed.

Contact Mauricio La Plante at [email protected] or follow @mslaplantenews on Twitter.

Luke Johnson contributed to this article.