The City of Charlotte hosted a live lottery on Monday, July 2 to assign times for applicants of free speech activities during the Democratic National Convention (DNC). As a means of ensuring fairness in the assignment process, the City used a random lottery system to select time slots for use of the Designated Parade Route and Speakers’ Platform during the Convention dates of September 4-6, 2012.
In total, the City received 41 applications: 16 for the Designated Parade Route and 25 for the Speakers’ Platform. Available allotment is up to six time slots per day for parades and up to 20 time slots per day for the Speakers’ Platform. Only one day during the week of the event – Tuesday, September 4 – had more parade applicants than time slots available, so two excess applicants from this day are being offered leftover time slots on Wednesday, September 5 or Thursday, September 6 as an alternative.
The application process for use of remaining time slots of the Designated Parade Route and Speakers’ Platform will reopen on Thursday, July 5 at 9 a.m. and close on Friday, August 24 at 5 p.m. or when all remaining time slots are filled.
A few additions to the application guidelines for the remaining time slots include:
Groups/individuals will be allowed to submit one application for each day that still has available time slots.
Groups/individuals assigned a date and time slot through the lottery may apply for days other than the day assigned through the lottery.
All remaining time slots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis.
When all time slots for a day have been filled, the day will close. The City will not maintain a waiting list.
Prior to the DNC, all assigned applicants will receive a permit and additional information from the City. All permit holders must bring the permit and a photo ID to the parade assembly area or Speakers’ Platform location.
For more information about how the City is preparing to accommodate free speech activities during the DNC, visit DNCinfo.CharlotteNC.gov.
Click here to see the listing of assigned times for applicants to-date, following the results of the live lottery (PDF).
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