‘Get in the game’: Arrowhead Stadium gets ready to welcome thousands of voters on Election Day
KANSAS CITY, Mo (WDAF) — On Tuesday, Arrowhead will transform from the loudest stadium in the NFL to a place where people’s voices will be heard by the mark of a ballot.
Voters like Marcia Holliday are excited at the prospect of visiting the home of the reigning Super Bowl Champions.
“Especially for those who have never been there before, I think it be a very good experiment,” she said.
It was Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ idea to open Arrowhead as a polling place. His 15 and the Mahomies Foundation and the Kansas City Chiefs split the $100,000 cost of additional equipment to increase accessibility to voting and offer-up a pretty cool place to vote.
Marquis Fitch, executive director of the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation, summed it up like this: “Get in the game and cast their vote,” he said.
“It’s really just a big accomplishment,” he added. “We do a lot of things in the community, but this is something we are most proud of.”
The Kansas City Election Board is hopeful the event will be a success, and it can continue using Arrowhead as a polling place in future years.
“It’s peaked a lot of people’s interest,” said Shawn Kieffer, Republican director of the KC Election Board. “We anticipate, if the day is a nice day, up to maybe 5,000 people coming out and voting that day.”
The KC Election Board delivered about 40 central polling machines to Arrowhead on Friday so anyone who lives in the Jackson County part of Kansas City can use to cast their ballot. Voters with KC addresses in other counties will not be eligible.
“They’ll get a little piece of paper that has a QR code on it. They’ll go over to their machines, they scan it and it will bring up their exact ballot,” Kieffer said.
After voting, people who cast their ballots will get a special Chiefs “I voted” sticker, can look at the field from the Club Level and then fill up at food trucks parked outside the stadium.
Katie Rock showed up to vote early Friday at Union Station, and when she heard about the opportunity at Arrowhead, she decided to wait and vote there on Tuesday.
“I’ve been to maybe five Chiefs games in my lifetime, and I grew up here,” Rock said. “It is something that I personally can’t afford, so I think it’s really cool that you can go there, and you don’t have to pay for parking. You don’t have to pay to go to the Arrowhead, and you get to exercise your right to vote. So I think it’s really cool.”
Arrowhead will be open for voting Tuesday, Nov. 3 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Anyone waiting in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to stay and vote. New arrivals will be turned away.
KCATA will provide free transportation to Arrowhead with pickup at 12th and Charlotte streets.
If you have your own transportation, park in Lot M between Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium. Voters will then use the Founder’s Plaza entrance.
Masks or other face coverings must be worn at all times throughout the voting process, including waiting in line, according to the Chiefs.