Voting at Arrowhead: 'Our responsibility' (and we 'love the Chiefs!')
A wheelchair was coming for Omar Ferrell, so he and his daughter, “Miss” Price, took a moment outside the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium to pause and soak in this electric moment in their voting lives.
“It is our responsibility to vote,” Price said, agreeing with her 66-year-old father. But she could hear the drum corps in the distance stirring the fast-moving line of voters. She could see the Chiefs cheerleaders shaking their pompoms.
Omar Ferrell and his daughter, “Miss” Price, wait to vote.
A giant bowl of blue sky and crisp autumn air seemed capable of bringing the statue of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt to life.
Yes, they were here out of a powerful obligation, Price said, “and . . . I love the Chiefs stadium!”
This was the vision Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes, Tyrann Mathieu and others imagined when they pressed the Chiefs and the NFL to make the stadium a voting site as part of a civic response to the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd.
The Chiefs and the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation split a $100,000 price tag to bring voting machines into the stadium’s North Club.
This was the second major event of the election season involving Arrowhead. On Sept. 29, LINC, the United Way and the League of Women Voters of Kansas City/Jackson, Clay and Platte Counties teamed up with Harvesters, the Chiefs, and the Royals to bring hundreds of people to the sports complex to register to vote and take home boxes of food.
The Election Day event was an obvious second act.
Paul Losenski and daughter, Louise.
Paul Losenski, 32, came with his 2-year-old daughter Louise to vote, in part, he said, because he admired the conviction of the Chiefs’ quarterback and his teammates.
“Patrick Mahomes was being an advocate . . . stepping outside the lines . . . to do something for the citizens of Kansas City,” Losenski said. "Saying, ‘Hey, come out and vote. It’s a great opportunity and let’s make it happen.’”
Because the voting site has to be maintained by the Kansas City Election Board, voting at Arrowhead is an option only for any registered Jackson County voters who live in the Kansas City municipal boundaries of the county.
Rochelle Graham poses after casting her vote.
Crowds lined up in the opening hours at 6 a.m., some of the campaigners outside the stadium said, but by mid-morning the operation was moving a steady stream of voters quickly through the process.
“It was fast, easy and convenient,” said Rochelle Graham, 47. “There was no waiting in line. I thank the Chiefs for the opportunity.”
Polls in Missouri are open until 7 p.m. Election night.
By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer
