Kings Owner Vivek Ranadive: Voting in USA Should Be as Easy as Ordering an Uber

Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive advocated for voting reform in the United States, saying it should be "as easy as ordering an Uber" in an interview with ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

McMenamin shared more of Ranadive's thoughts on the topic:

"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 book seller 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."

The Kings announced Wednesday they were working together with 20 teams across the United States to relaunch the "Rally the Vote" initiative. The purpose is to increase voter registration and improve ballot access to those who are registered.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is collaborating with stars such as Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young and Phoenix Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith for a group called More Than a Vote, which is pursuing similar aims. 

Along with the Kings, other NBA franchises are doing their part ahead of the November elections.

The Atlanta Hawks will allow for State Farm Arena to be a polling place, and the Detroit Pistons are doing the same with their practice facility. Sacramento made plans as well for Golden 1 Center to become a voting center.

Beyond allowing for more people at a time, using larger venues compared to traditional locations allows for voters and polling officials to practice social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The transformation is a focal point of More Than a Vote's strategy.