Priscilla Moreno cruised into the lineup for the Mavericks’ drive-through voter registration on Tuesday.
Moments later, she was performed. And for the primary time in her 25 years, she was an official voter in america.
“I’ve never voted,” Moreno stated. “And for me, it was a chance. I used to be like, hey, what’s stopping me? I dwell right here. I’m a U.S. citizen. What’s stopping me from voting?
“My parents are immigrants and I’m like: I need a voice. I need to help make change. Let me go ahead and do this and go for it. It was super-easy and very quick.”
And Moreno was precisely the sort of individual the Mavericks have been making an attempt to assist on Tuesday.
She was one in every of about 200 Dallas county residents who bought registered to vote within the Mavericks’ drive-through registration alternative on the staff’s enterprise workplace on Stemmons, throughout from the American Airways Middle.
The climate didn’t assist the trigger. Cool temperatures and an on-again, off-again rain stored vehicular site visitors down.
However the backside line is whether or not 10 or 10,000 folks got here by the registration alternative, it was a hit to assist folks have a voice.
“This is an awesome thing the Mavericks are doing – just giving the community, people in Dallas county, the opportunity to register to vote,” stated Michael Finley, the Mavericks’ vp of basketball operations, who was readily available for a lot of the drive-through expertise. “It’s important that the community see that the Mavericks have their best interest in mind, not only the community, but the country. To give you the opportunity to register, educate yourself on voting, I think it’s a great thing.”
As Finley stated, the Mavericks made it so simple as potential.
It took lower than a pair minutes to fill out the paperwork and individuals who registered bought a pleasant swag-bag of Mavericks’ goodies.
It couldn’t have been simpler. Individuals might keep of their vehicles, out of the climate and proceed to put on their masks.
“It’s so important to be able to offer this service to the community because that’s truly what it’s about,” Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall stated. “It’s about actually giving the neighborhood a chance to have interaction of their civic exercise.
“Our workplace promise at the Mavs is every voice matters. And everybody belongs. This is truly about every voice matters, because your vote is your voice.”
One other Dallasite, Jack Roberts, stated he heard concerning the drive-through registration on the information Sunday evening.
“I was going to the library and fill out all that,” Roberts stated. “However this can be a piece of cake. Simply put on your masks.
“I heard about it Sunday night, a quick blip on the news. I watch ABC and I heard it, and I googled it. We need change. If you don’t have a voice, you’re not going to get change. And you can’t complain.”
The Mavericks introduced in March To The Polls, a neighborhood group that’s designed to assist folks register to vote, to help within the occasion.
Richard Marcus, the co-founder for March To The Polls, was readily available for Tuesday’s occasion and stated that the variety of folks registering was essential.
“What the Mavericks are doing is amazing,” Marcus stated. “The movement, the best way the Mavericks have performed it, and the keenness of the folks, it’s actually nice.
“We measure it one voter at a time. People who normally don’t exercise their right, we don’t tell them how to vote. We just tell them, whatever you believe, do it.”
March to the Polls started in 2015 and is strategically centered on high-school seniors. However getting any younger folks to register to vote is essential to the group’s philosophy.
As Marshall stated: “People literally died so that we could vote. We have to remember that. We have to honor that. Let’s make sure they didn’t die in vain.”
Twitter: @ESefko