Local election administrators cited logistics in deciding not to use the arena as a voting placeGETTY IMAGES
Miami-Dade county's decision to use the nearby Frost Science Museum as an early-voting site instead of the AmericanAirlines Arena "brought a blistering response from the Heat, with team executives saying they were baffled that Miami-Dade had changed its mind on an agreement that appeared all but done," according to Douglas Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. Documents released Friday in the "midst of an open-records lawsuit detail the backstory behind the scuffle" between Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez -- a Republican candidate for Congress -- and the Heat "over the team’s offer to use one of the county’s best-known buildings for two weeks of early voting under way now." The correspondence "shows elections administrators were on the brink of signing a deal to accept the Heat’s offer and open up its home court arena to early voting for the November election." An agreement even was "drafted to restrict how the Heat could refer to playing host for early-voting, including a ban on advertising anything political while voting was underway." But in September, election administrators "cited logistics to explain the decision to go with the Frost site," and Gimenez "issued a statement Sept. 4 saying he 'fully supports' the choice of the Elections Department to go with Frost, 'based on its accessibility and experience with early voting' since the museum’s old site in Coconut Grove was a long-time polling location." Deputy Mayor Jennifer Moon, who oversees the Elections Department, said that the administration had "concerns the arena could remain an 'apolitical' site" (MIAMI HERALD, 10/25).
