Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal has a message for D.C. residents: vote. It’s a message he’ll be taking seriously himself — and for the first time in his life.

“I was that individual four years ago. I was someone who didn’t take registration seriously, who didn’t think my vote counted. What other ways can you impact change other than voting?” said Beal, 27, on Thursday morning. “We all have the right. Everyone fought for that right.”

Beal was speaking at the Capital One Arena as part of an event hosted by the D.C. Board of Elections and Monumental Sports and Entertainment — which owns the Wizards, Capitals and Mystics — to promote voting this year. As part of a partnership between Monumental and the elections board, the concourse of the arena will be used as a “super vote center” for early voting and Election Day. (Nationals Park will also be used as a vote center.)

“For us, this is our Super Bowl. It’s an incredible venue… to be able to cast a ballot,” said Michael Bennett, chair of the elections board. “We’ll be able to process multiple persons at one time. There aren’t any access issues here. Things will move very, very quickly.”

Bennett said he expects “record-shattering turnout” for November’s election, and super vote centers like Capital One Arena, Nationals Park, and the Omni Shoreham Hotel will be able to handle large numbers of voters while allowing them to maintain social distance. D.C. will open 16 early voting centers on Oct. 27, and will have more than 90 polling places across the city for Election Day. Every registered voter will also be mailed a ballot directly, which they can then mail back or leave at a ballot drop box or vote center.

Bennett urged voters to cast ballots by mail or take advantage of early voting, because even with the super vote centers, there could possibly be lines to vote on Election Day because of social distancing rules and cleaning protocols. During the June primary, some voters waited up to five hours to vote in person, an experience election officials say they are trying to avoid come November.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has urged the board, which operates independently, to open all the traditional 144 neighborhood-based polling places, but election officials say some are too small for social distancing and some were historically located in schools and churches that may still be closed because of the pandemic.

For his part, Beal, who lives in Maryland, said he would cast his first-ever ballot by mail. Along with teammates on the Wizards and Mystics, Beal is among the professional basketball players who have taken to promoting voting as a way to get engaged — especially among Black people. LeBron James has been working to convince cities and team owners to turn basketball arenas into polling places, and has more recently made a push to encourage people to volunteer to serve as poll workers.

“You hear my voice on this stage, but this voting center serves as your voice,” said Beal of the Capital One Arena. “This serves as an opportunity for no excuses to be had. There should be no excuse why your voice shouldn’t be heard.”

“I clearly took it for granted,” he added. “The last four years, it’s been horrible. We have to be better… why not start with the vote?”