Having spent most of his outdoor professional career in the United States, Nick Nurse knows all the reasons expats have for not voting. Hell, he used some himself.
Too complicated to keep up with election news from afar. I didn’t like the candidates. It did not meet the registration deadline. I missed the deadline to get a ballot. I missed the deadline to roll back a ballot. I didn’t think a vote would matter.
No more.
Calling the November 3 election “the maximum of our lives,” the Toronto Raptors coach joined his team in a very public crusade for Americans living in Canada to vote.
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“There are no more excuses this time,” Nurse told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “I’ve given them everything. Everyone has excuses, but we all have to put the excuses aside and get us all to do our component and vote. All.
“I think it’s important. It means a lot. I think it’s important,” he added. “I don’t think voting would weigh too much on my conscience. Let’s put it that way. “
While Nurse said her players were already talking about the importance of voting in March, before the NBA season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, she took on greater urgency after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Chris Paul joins When We All Vote by Michelle Obama. LeBron James, More Than a Vote, has recruited 10,000 new election officials and is now running with When We All Vote for others to register and vote.
And after less than a quarter of eligible players voted in the 2016 election, the NBA Players Association said that just over 96% of the league is now registered to vote. Raptors are one of 20 groups with one hundred percent of eligible players registered.
“People are asking for a replacement in many other areas,” Nurse said. “One of the genuine tactics to influence replacement is to vote and pass through government officials and legislation. If you are asking for a law to be a change, you will have to vote on who you think will replace the legislation according to them. “
“It’s the most effective way to change, which I think is how NBA players and coaches and many other people in our country feel. “
While the Scotiabank Arena may not be a polling place, the Raptors were hoping it would serve as a voter registration center, but the accumulation of COVID cases in and around Toronto forced them to abandon the plan. the importance of voting on his Twitter account, and Nurse, the NBA coach of the year for the 2019-2020 season, personally amplified the message, hoping to succeed in as many Americans living in Canada as possible.
And there are many.
According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s investigation into voting in the 2016 election, Canada had more Americans of voting age (more than 622,000) than any other country, but less than 7% asked for ballots in the last presidential election.
Only 5. 3% voted.
“Let’s say there’s room for improvement,” Nurse said.
While the Raptors won’t know the effects of their efforts until after the election, Nurse said the Federal Voting Assistance ProgramArray www. fvap. gov, has 3 times more traffic than in Canada. Providing voting data for service members and their families. as well as for Americans abroad.
“I hope we influence that, ” said Nurse.
Voting is no more confusing than in the United States, said Nurse, who requested her online survey (she is registered to vote in Iowa) and fired her on Monday, employing FedEx to make sure there were no delays.
“It’s not mandatory, but I have a tendency to do it with everything (important) I send to the United States,” Nurse said. “I looked to make sure I did it quickly. “
In this election, there is no room for error or an apology.
Follow USA TODAY sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.