The Fillmore Philadelphia among venues Live Nation will turn into polling sites

The coronavirus pandemic has left concert venues across the country shuttered for the better part of the year, but Live Nation has come up with a use for the empty buildings by looking to convert upwards of 100 of them into polling places on Election Day. Included will be The Fillmore, located in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood.

At press time, The Fillmore was in the final stages of the vetting process, and if approved, the location will join The Wiltern and Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Calif., Emo’s in Austin, Tex. and The Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, Ga., all of which are confirmed to serve as polling sites in their respective jurisdictions on Nov. 3.

Using the tagline “Amplify Your Voice,” Live Nation is partnering with More Than a Vote, a coalition of Black athletes and artists dedicated to protecting voting rights, along with Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of businesses working together to build a future where everyone can vote, volunteer and take action to shape the country. It’s all part of several initiatives to encourage civic engagement and support access to voting in the 2020 elections.

“Core to what we do at Live Nation is helping amplify voices on stage around the world, and supporting voting is another important way we want to continue making voices heard,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation, in a statement. “We’re honored to work with such incredible partners and will do everything in our power to support and empower voter engagement among our employees and the public.”

Additional initiatives, besides using Live Nation-owned concert venues as polling places, will see the entertainment conglomerate providing employees with paid time off to vote, incentivizing employees to serve as poll workers and partnering with organizations on voter access and educational efforts.

Live Nation will provide up to one half-day of paid time off to all employees on Election Day. And in an effort to address the national shortage of poll workers caused by Covid-19 pandemic, the company will provide any active employee with a full day of paid time off to serve at the polls. A partnering is also taking place with Power the Polls to track employee participation and meet the needs for poll workers in communities across the nation. 

Finally, in the lead up to Election Day, Live Nation has also partnered with HeadCount, a non-partisan organization to use the power of music and amplify artist voices to inspire fans to register to vote and promote participation in democracy. Citizens of the United States can visit headcount.org/livenation to check their voter registration status and learn how to exercise their right to vote in November.

This article appeared in yesterday’s print edition of The Daily Times in my weekly Rock Music Menu column under the title “The Fillmore among venues Live Nation will turn into polling sites.”