CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There’s a major push to get people registered to vote in Mecklenburg County.
There are about 55,000 new registered voters in the county so far this year, and on Tuesday evening, the Charlotte Hornets held a virtual voter registration drive from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
A group of former Hornets players participated in the event as part of an effort to get people to register.
“People look up to them, idolize them,” said Betsy Mack, executive director of the Charlotte Hornets Foundation.
It’s called the Swarm the Polls campaign. The virtual voter registration drive includes familiar names like Mugsy Bogues, Rex Chapman, and Devonte Graham.
“We have some polls we will be asking people throughout so it will be interactive and engaging,” said Mack. “We also would love for people to send in questions.”
It comes as WCNC Charlotte learns about 55,000 new voters have registered this year in Mecklenburg County. Of those voters, roughly 18,000 are white, 10,000 are Black, and 1,400 are Asian. In addition, about 2,600 are Latino and 19,000 are non-Latino.
“We’ve been really heavy in our Latino communities. We’ve been working with some of the local Spanish speaking stations as well to get some PSA’s out in Spanish,” Mack said. “We’re also looking at our African American communities, our historic Black neighborhoods, and then our Asian communities as well.”
Organizers hope if a few familiar faces speak up, others will make their voices heard this election.
“Just hearing from a role model, it just reinstates the fact that we all need to look at voting as our highest priority right now,” said Mack.
There are roughly half a million registered voters total in Mecklenburg County.
If you’re interested in joining the virtual drive, head to www.hornets.com/govote.