Kansas City Chiefs quarterbackPatrick Mahomes was one of the driving forces behind turning the team's stadium into a polling station, the team's president, Mark Donovan, said.- Mahomes and other important figures within the Chiefs organization had floated the idea of using the stadium as a voting location but faced obstacles to do it.
- One of the key issues, Donovan said, was that turning the stadium into a polling place required the purchase of new voting machines.
- Mahomes and the Chiefs spent a combined "six-figure" sum on buying 25 new voting machines and paying the wages of poll workers.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was one of the driving forces behind turning the team's stadium into a polling station, and he even helped to fund the purchase of new voting machines to make it happen.
That's according to Mark Donovan, the president of the Chiefs, who told reporters on Tuesday that the 2020 Super Bowl MVP was key in getting plans to turn Arrowhead Stadium into a place where Kansas City residents could vote.
Mahomes and other important figures within the Chiefs organization had floated the idea of using the stadium as a voting location but faced obstacles to do it.
One of the key issues, Donovan said, was that turning the stadium into a polling place required the purchase of new voting machines.
It was at this point when Mahomes and the Chiefs stepped in, spending what Donovan said was a "six-figure" sum to fund the new machines, according to a CNN account of Donovan's comments.
—Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) November 3, 2020
According to the local news station KSHB 41, Mahomes and the Chiefs funded about 25 voting machines and also paid the wages of 30 poll workers.
"I thought it was very important not only just to get as many people out to vote as possible but also to use a place as Arrowhead where we have a lot of fun, show a lot of love and unity where people coming together, and use that as a place where we can come together and vote and use our voice," Mahomes said on the NFL podcast "Huddle and Flow."
"I thought Arrowhead was the perfect place."
—Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) November 3, 2020
Voters registered in Missouri's Jackson County were able to vote at Arrowhead.
Missouri voted by about 57% to 41% in favor of President Donald Trump ahead of the Democrat Joe Biden, according to Insider and Decision Desk HQ.
In Jackson County, Biden won about 60% of the vote, compared with Trump's 38%, according to CNN.
On Tuesday, the Kansas City Election Board's Republican director, Shawn Kieffer, said he expected 2,500 to 5,000 people to vote using the polling station, according to KSHB 41.
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