Charlotte's Democratic National Convention will see enlarged venues

Members of the Democratic Party announced Tuesday that they are altering the format of Democratic National Convention, which will take place in Charlotte later this year.

The event, which will begin on Sept. 4, is being shortened from four to three days, and the final day of the convention will be moved to a larger venue.

The last day of the convention will be moved to Bank of America Stadium from Time Warner Cable Arena. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the DNC committee, said the move allows 50,000 more people to attend.

The stadium — the location where President Barack Obama’s will give his acceptance speech for the Democratic Party’s nomination — holds 70,000 people and is more accessible to the public, Wasserman said.

“We wanted to find a way to truly make this convention different than any other in history,” Schultz said.

“We want this convention to be about more than just the pageantry and speeches you see on television. This is about engaging Americans in a meaningful way.”

Joanne Peters, press secretary for the DNC committee, said fundraising is on track for hosting the event. A budget of about $36.7 million has been set for the convention.

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“I’m also very curious about the cost,” he said. “How much money is this going to cost?”

Obama plans to use the convention as a springboard for securing victory in the state, which he narrowly won by about 14,000 votes in 2008.

A recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning polling firm based in Raleigh, found Obama tied with Republican nominee Rick Santorum among N.C. voters at 46 percent, closely followed by Mitt Romney at 45 percent.

“We can expect Obama and the Republican nominee to compete aggressively in North Carolina,” said Tom Carsey, a UNC political science professor.

Eliza Hernandez, president of College Democrats at UNC-Charlotte, who attended the opening of a new campaign office for Obama in Charlotte earlier this month, said they are expecting the president to focus on North Carolina.

The opening of the campaign office was attended by more than 300 people, said Cameron French, press secretary for Obama’s campaign in North Carolina.

The office will assign volunteers to make phone calls and hold voter registration drives, French said.

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