This last election saw a clarification of the 40-foot rule prohibiting campaign activities. Now we have a bill pre-filed by Del. Jim Shuler (D-12th) which will specifically allow voters to wear campaign apparel. The bill adds section K to §24.2-604:
K. The provisions of subsections A and D shall not be construed to prohibit a person who approaches or enters the polling place for the purpose of voting from wearing a shirt, hat, or other apparel on which a candidate’s name or a political slogan appears or from having a sticker or button attached to his apparel on which a candidate’s name or a political slogan appears.
So, do you support this bill? If so, why? If not, why not?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
When I voted this year, I zipped up my jacket to cover up my Obama t-shirt, but I was accosted by two guys who asked me to remove the Obama/Biden button from my backpack and the tiny Democratic Party pin from my jacket, both of which I’d forgotten about. I gave them an amused look as they laughed and said, “I know, I know! We don’t make the rules.” I took the buttons off and said, “No, no! You’ve done well. Who knows how many votes these buttons could have wrongly influenced? ‘I like McCain, but that random dude’s wearing an Obama button, I’ll vote for him instead!'”
The rule barring a voter from wearing a button or shirt or what have you expressing preference for a candidate is asinine. I can appreciate a rule barring active campaigning, so people can vote in a zone of peace, but I don’t see how one’s choice of wardrobe could or should be an annoyance or interfere with anyone in the process of voting.
I support this amendment within the context of bureaucrats having already grossly misconstrued the intent of the rule. However, I hate reinforcing the premise of allowing permitting these idiots to interpret laws as broadly as possible, then correcting later with more verbiage in the law.
I’d prefer the bureaucrats be pimp slapped for (intentionally, I’d wager) reading that which was not there.
Asking me to remove or cover any type of clothing is an infringement of my first amendment right! As a veteran I highly resent anyone telling me what clothing I can wear to cast my vote. Next thing they’ll want us to vote in the nude. If you don’t strongly stand up for your rights, they quickly get changed into non-rights…
BS
Va. Beach did not enforce this “rule.” People wore all kinds of buttons, shirts, and hats, and there was no problem of any kind.
The only party creating a problem where none exists is the State Board of Elections, which has stepped far beyond its statutory and constitutional authority, and seems to be begging to get sued. (I’m kind of disappointed the ACLU didn’t bother to take this up.)
I saw many, many people who contended that they registered or changed their address at the DMV, but the change did not show up in the voting registrar’s records. There were also problems in other areas with voting machines going down, not enough volunteers or staff, not enough voting machines, and one precinct that did not open on time. The absentee ballots took a long time to count, despite the dedicated efforts of a very hard-working registrar’s staff.
Maybe the SBE could spend its limited time and resources doing its job and correcting real problems like these, and leave the choice of wardrobe to the voters it serves. Once the SBE has actually done its job, I’m sure it will have very little time left over to offer fashion advice to the citizens for whom it works.
Why stop there?
Let’s have election officials wear campaign t-shirts and buttons.
After all, the first amendment means everyone, right?
Here in lies the problem. We have laws on the books we do not enforce, chose not to enforce or simply ignore and hope no one enforces them. If concensus is that the ordinaces should be changed witghin the polling places than thats democracy, but in fact the underlying issues of bumper stickers and yard signs I believe are different than apparel. I do not want to infringe on anyone’s rights but bumper stickers and yard signs had historically been about fundraising for campaigns which to me is different than apparel that may be purchased in the marketplace say from an online company. There always has to be a balance to our laws so which is the greater; the right to expression or the right to vote (as the law is written in most places) without influence. Personally, I fear this trend of viewing political campaigns like we do our sports teams and voting to me has always been a sacredm cherished thing and should be a private act. If someone can explain to me the need for a person to wear apparel to a polling place in support other than simply its their right to freedom of expression I would love to hear that arguement to enlighten all of us. If someone is so passionate about a campaign or cause maybe they ought to be those folks at the barrier line handing out the lit and ballot descriptions and other info for voters. If voting is indeed a private thing it will be interesing to hear the arguements on both sides but if the majority of the people want voting and polling places to simply turn into rallies I guess thats fine to, I mean freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech….all these things could come into play in the polling place and use the same arguement. Whats to prevent fifty people wearing “VOTE FOR OUR GUY” lining up once the bill passes and then chanting “VOTE FOR OUR GUY” in the polling lines or even in the polling place. I wonder just where you draw the line and which right or liberty trumps the other ones when put against the right to vote. But then many folks want to do away with the secret ballot as well so who knows things could very well be drasticly different in years to come I guess.
I do not support such a bill. Why has there been so much attention regarding this rule this year? I’ve been voting for years and I’ve always understood this to be the rule — don’t wear campaign buttons, stickers, etc. within 40 feet of the polling place. I have no problem with this. I’ve always observed the rule in the past, and I see no reason for a sudden change in this policy. There is a time and a place for campaigning, but when a voter goes into a polling place to cast his ballot, I believe that he should be free from such activity and have the opportunity to experience an environment free from campaigning so that he can thoughtfully decide how to cast his ballot. Leave the campaigning outside the 40 foot line, but once he gets past that line, let the voter have a few moments to escape all of that so that he can cast his vote as he chooses. I truly fail to see how preserving the polling place from the distractions of campaigning is such a problem — people have plenty of other opportunities to do so. But let the actual polling place be above that, keeping it on a higher level to a certain extent. In my opinion, letting campaigning to occur inside the polling place seems to cheapen the act of voting — once a voter reaches that place, the campaign should end and the voter should decide.
That’s a good point, David. Why wouldn’t campaign banners and signs be allowed in the polling place, then?
Ordinarily, I would not wear campaign insignia to the polling place, as I view it as tacky.
However, the mere wearing of a shirt or button, without any accompanying intimidation or harassment, is an expression of personal opinion and political affiliation, and thus is protected political speech. Our First Amendment rights should only be subject to limitation in extreme circumstances (FIRE! in a crowded theater) and not just because people think a neutral polling place is desirable. In particular, if such restrictions are to be imposed, it should be by the legislature, and not an appointed board.
So, as an assertion of our First Amendment rights and a rebuke of the State Board of Elections’ exceeding of authority, my fellow Tidewater Libertarian Party member, Mary Bazuma and I wore our TLP T-shirts and Bob Barr buttons in defiance if the ban as we accompanied each other to our polling places in Chesapeake and Norfolk, with the intention of filing suit if either of us was prevented from voting with our insignia displayed.
Apparently, the poll workers were struck with an epidemic of hysterical blindness, as no one seemed to notice.
Some days you can’t even get arrested in these towns.
Hey Don, maybe next you can have some sit-ins and then play acoustic protest songs and then yell at the cops to arrest you.
Just when you think the 60s were dead, we have the Libertarians to relive them.
Was Bob Barr on the ballot? 😉
Yes, Vivian, in spite of the best efforts of both Republicans and Democrats to deny us ballot access, we were able to get Barr on the ballot in 47 states.
Brian, the question you should be asking yourself would be ‘Why are the Libertarians the only ones left who will stand up for the Constitution?’
The GOP treats the Constitution as some sort of relic to be genuflected to before going on to do whatever they damned well please and the Democrats look on it scornfully as an obstruction in their way to be pushed aside.
The ruling by the State Board of Elections was a clear violation of the First Amendment and an abuse of their mandate under state law. Anyone who failed to protest something like that should be hanging their head in shame.
Don – jeez – would you please note the smiley there? It was a frikkin’ joke! Goodness! Lighten up.
The notion that an article of clothing can impact a voter’s decision is laughable. Any sensible voter will already know who he or she will be voting for prior to arriving at the polling location. I sincerely hope the State Board of Elections will abandon all efforts to enforce such a ridiculous policy.