Sacramento Kings owner: Voting should be 'as easy as ordering an Uber'

Sacramento Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadive believes that adequate technology exists to revolutionize political voting in the United States.

As ESPN's Dave McMenamin wrote on Wednesday, Ranadive recently campaigned for reforms during a phone interview.

"Let's make voting as easy as ordering an Uber. We're kind of in the digital era right now. I call it Civilization 3.0. You know, 1.0 was kind of the agricultural era. It was the start of civilization and people were farmers and land was the raw material. And the Industrial Revolution was 2.0. It was all about the factories and it was about efficiency and energy and steel were the raw materials.

"And now we've fully entered the digital era, where the world's largest bookseller has no bookstores and the world's largest taxi company has no cars, and so on. But we're still in the agricultural era in terms of how we vote. So it's time to bring it up to speed."

On Wednesday, the Kings announced via an official statement the relaunch of the nonpartisan "Rally the Vote" campaign which includes a coalition of 20 professional sports franchises across multiple leagues that will focus on registering new voters and encouraging people to cast their ballots in November.

"There's no better way to be heard than by voting and it’s important we all do our part to lower barriers to the ballot box," Ranadive said via the prepared statement.

"The idea of 'one person, one vote' is part of the reason I fell in love with this country as a teenager. Whether you agree or disagree with your elected officials, voting gives us an opportunity to make our voices heard. At the Kings, we believe that sports teams have a unique responsibility to use our platforms for positive change, and we’re excited to Rally the Vote alongside these incredible teams."

In early July, NPR reported that the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks all offered their arenas for in-person voting so individuals can maintain social distance as they wait to cast their ballots amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, the team's home venue in downtown Cleveland, will become a polling location for the general election held on Nov. 3.