Election Day is just around the corner and the home of the Chicago Bulls, the United Center, will be used as a “super site” on Nov. 3.
The United Center, the home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, hasn’t seen any game action in basketball or hockey since mid-March in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The last time that the Bulls played a game at the United Center was back on March 10 in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Hawks also haven’t played an NHL game at the United Center since mid-March.
However, there are other important events happening at the United Center in the last six or eight months. Serving as a logistic distribution hub in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now taking part in helping the city of Chicago on election day next week, the United Center has become a key part of the city’s infrastructure this year through all these difficult times.
According to a report from Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago, the United Center will serve as an “Election Day Super Site” for the first time in the history of the arena. Come Nov. 3, the United Center will reportedly allow Chicago voters to both drop off their mail-in ballots and actually vote on site on election day.
But the United Center will not be open for early voting. On election day, the United Center will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT to allow for in-person voting and the drop-off of mail-in ballots. Here’s more on what the Chicago Election Board had to say about the election day voting at the United Center.
"“We are proud to partner with the United Center to make voting even easier for Chicagoans on Election Day,” said Chicago Board of Election Chairwoman Marisel Hernandez in a statement. “We’re encouraging everyone to plan their vote – whether that’s by mail, early in person, or in person on Election Day – there are multiple options and we hope Chicagoans will choose the option most convenient for them to vote.”"
It’s good to see such a big venue in the city of Chicago giving the city’s residents more options for places to vote. And since the Bulls and Hawks haven’t been playing at the arena anytime recently, at least it is being put to good use.
The Bulls finished up the 2019-20 season with a record of 22-43 under the direction of now former head coach Jim Boylen, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. The NBA could be on track for a pre-Christmas start date (Dec. 22 specifically) for the next season.