Like Raptors, Nurse are continuing to push for voter access in US elections

TORONTO – As Toronto Raptors manager Nick Nurse repeated several times during his team’s time in the NBA bubble, there are more than 650,000 US citizens living in Canada and he wants to find a way to get as many as possible to vote at upcoming US presidential election on November 3.

In early July, before the seeding games began, Nurse and the Raptors released a PSA urging potential voters to head to FVAP.gov to find out more about how US citizens abroad can still vote in elections.

This was one of the key messages that the nurse brought the light to while she was in the bubble, either by talking to the media about it or by doing something as simple as wearing a “VOTE” sweatshirt.

Getting more people to participate and increasing voter access is also a key part of the commitments made on Friday by the NBA and NBPA that are now enabling the next season to resume.

Last week, the Milwaukee Bucks staged a boycott of Game 5 of their first round series with the Orlando Magic to protest Jacob Blake’s shooting by police in Kenosha, Wis. change in the fight against racial inequality and police brutality against the black community which has seen leagues across North America postpone Wednesday, Thursday and Friday matches.

It took a mental toll for the Raptors this week, to the point where some have questioned even getting to the Orlando bubble in the first place to play. Eventually, the Raptors and the rest of the league decided that their social justice message would be best served by using the NBA stage.

“… We got to this point where the show stopped and the kids were like, ‘I didn’t want to come in the first place, things they didn’t express [the media] before and just a little bit how to get over all of that, ”Nurse said after the Raptors practiced on Saturday.

“And you guys knew my stance on the whole thing is that I think playing these games certainly offers our kids a much better platform for social justice and whatever cause or what important part they want to have and that’s been a while. the conversations I have had individually and have expressed to the team.

“In all reality, I mean, we only ask for their attention for a couple of hours a day, and the rest of the day they can do what they want and then they have a chance to make a living and support their family and have a platform to do it with, so this is one of the bases of many conversations. ”

On Friday, the NBA and NBPA released a joint statement announcing that matches would resume playing starting Saturday and, more importantly, detailed how both the league and its players will work together on three key commitments. :

1. The NBA and its players have decided to immediately establish a social justice coalition, with representatives of players, coaches and governors, which will focus on a wide range of issues, including increasing access to voting , promoting civic engagement and advocating for significant police and criminal justice reform.

2. In each city where the league franchise owns and controls arena ownership, team governors will continue to work with local election officials to convert the facility into a voting venue for the 2020 general election to enable a secure in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID. If a deadline has expired, team governors will work with local election officials to find another election-related use for the facility, including but not limited to voter registration and ballot receipt cards.

3. The league will work with players and our network partners to create and include commercials in each NBA playoff game dedicated to promoting greater civic engagement in national and local elections and raising awareness of voter access and opportunities.

Of this trio of engagements, the most difficult for the Toronto Raptors to perform appears to be number 2.

Due to the nature of the Raptors a Canada-based franchise, the Scotiabank Arena cannot be converted into a voting venue for the US election.

The nurse, however, has a solution.

“We are certainly in a different situation. We are really trying, we are trying to target US citizens living in Canada, “Nurse said.” We think there are over 650,000. We know that only 30 or a few thousand of them, about 5%, voted in the last election. We know the folks at FVAP.gov are really happy we’re helping, they’re getting a lot of action, they’re thrilled to have helped us. I mean, that’s a ridiculous number, 30-a few thousand out of 650,000 and more that’s astounding. We are trying to help with that.

“I don’t see any, as far as our arena is concerned, there just isn’t any, it’s not part of the plan. However, it doesn’t stop me from trying to get some of the, at least one of the former arenas I was a D-League coach in Iowa at, where I’m from, opened, making that call and maybe some of our players maybe are looking to do the same in their areas as well. So, we’re working on it. ”

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Nurse was the head coach of Iowa Energy of the D-League – now known as the Iowa Wolves of the G League – from 2007-2011 and still maintains a good relationship with the team. If the Nurse were to convince the Wolves to open their facility to use as a voting venue, the spot would likely be the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Sportsnet contacted the Wolves to see if the nurse had still contacted them, but a team staff member said a dialogue, as far as he knew, had yet to be open, but it’s likely because, being Saturday, the team didn’t. was in regular business hours. Additionally, the nurse could have contacted other people within the organization directly.

Finding more accessible ways to vote in the United States is certainly in line with the activism the nurse has outlined so far, but her main goal remains to get US citizens living in Canada to vote in elections.

“We don’t have a specific goal, I think we’re just trying to get as many as possible and hopefully by the end of this you will see … this has really affected people,” said the nurse of a specific goal of US citizens. living in Canada have registered to vote. “We still have a lot of work to do and we’re doing it, I know we’re broadcasting the second of our third PSA to TV stations during tomorrow’s games in Canada, so we’ve had some traction and we’re getting some platform. and we’re getting some airtime. ”

This new PSA commercial is in line with the third commitment outlined by the NBA, NBPA joint statement on Friday, with commercials to promote “greater civic engagement in national and local elections and raise awareness of voter access and opportunities.”

Action to increase voter numbers and improve voter education is but one aspect Nurse and the Raptors are looking for in their effort to bring about social change, but there is always more that can be done and , according to Nurse, which starts with your local community help.

“I feel right from the start, really, even before that, I see that one of my main roles is to have these kids impact their local communities,” Nurse said. “It’s something I’ve researched and researched and what kind of continuing to research and study, the impact these kids can have in their local communities.

“I really think it’s important, that we can help our players understand how much impact they can have. Help our players organize that action plan, etc. This is one of the main things that I am always very aware of and that I push. It’s part of the reason I created my foundation is so I can learn how to teach these kids how to do theirs in their communities. It is one of the advantages of doing this.

“Just one more thing: Again, this is more broadly, I think preparing these guys for life after basketball so they’re ready to continue making an impact, even if their platform shifts or declines a bit. bit, they are still ready to continue working as teachers, as coaches, as mentors, as business people, whatever it is, that we continue to prepare them to be lifelong students and lifelong characters in their local communities. ”

Another way to understand how to do more is to simply listen more.

“I’ve attended quite a few meetings and learned a lot about being honest with you,” Nurse said. “The main one is, again, I keep getting personal stories from our players about the incidents they have suffered with law enforcement, which are personal, discouraging and disappointing. This is probably what I would like to share with you there.”