Two Pennsylvania Counties, Montgomery and Carbon, have decided to lift their ban prohibiting clothing containing political messages at the polls, a move that will prevent confusion and frustration on November 4th.
The PA clothing ban has caused much confusion within the state and has been diaried here on DK before, so I figured I’d post an update on the most recent happenings here on the ground.
Join me for more info below the fold...
There has been some confusion concerning whether or not voters would be allowed to wear politically partisan clothing into the polls on Election Day in PA. Due to ambiguous wording in state laws, and varying degrees of interpretation, there are certain counties within the state of PA in which voters can actually be turned away from the polls if they are wearing shirts, hats, or buttons that support a particular candidate or party. This has been confusing to voters because there is really no rhyme or reason as to which parts of the state enforce such restrictions and which parts do not, it is decided on a county-by-county basis.
PA law prohibits the practice of electioneering at polls, but does not specifically define the term of electioneering, causing county commissioners, local officials, and even poll workers to apply their own person interpretation of the rules, which resulted in voters being turned away from the polls during the April 25th, 2008 PA Primary. Voters, who were not allowed to voted unless they removed or covered the questionable clothing, were basically told that the political statements made by their attire were, in fact, electioneering. Complaints from disenfranchised voters caused the ACLU and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania to get involved, requesting that the state clarify its position.
On September 4th 2008, the PA Department of State issued a memo stating that the wearing partisan clothing does not fall within the realm of active electioneering and therefore no voter should be turned away on election day due to their clothing or attire.
The decision by the state, however, did not resolve the issue since the memo is a guideline and not a law. Some counties accepted the position and vowed to honor it while others, mostly Republican-controlled counties such as Montgomery, stubbornly refused to change their long-standing bans. As a life-long resident of Montgomery County, one of the 5 highly-contested counties bordering Philadelphia, this did not surprise me. We are used to such antics and already had our Election Day contingency plan: a supply of plain, oversized t-shirts and sweatshirts that we can loan to any uninformed voters who may be turned away by our Republican overlords for wearing partisan clothing to the polls.
Newsweek has an excellent article on the unfolding brouhaha that can be read here.
Now, in a move that has surprised many, Montgomery and Carbon Counties have decided to scale back their earlier decisions and allow voters to wear political clothing at the polls on Election Day. The decision has divided those from opposite sides of the political aisle, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposing it. Some feel that the debate has become more heated this election cycle because Obama has many more young supporters who are more likely to express their political views on t-shirts, more likely to be first-time voters, and less-likely to know all of the Election Day rules.
Democrats, who have worked mightily to add voters to the rolls, took the side of the Department of State, saying clothing restrictions could result in eligible voters being turned away, hurting turnout.
Snip...
Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor, a Republican who voted against lifting that county's ban on political clothing, said the county should have kept with its long-standing prohibition -- a position supported by the county's legal staff.
Castor said he thinks Barack Obama supporters hope their fashion sense will influence the vote.
''I think there is a concerted effort to get Obama supporters to wear Obama clothing to the polls, which would create this impression there is an overwhelming tide that is unstoppable,'' Castor said.
In Montgomery County, voters will be asked to remove hats and/or pins, but political clothing will be allowed as it is considered "passive" electioneering, and any restriction of that would be a violation of the First Amendment.
Per State Commissioner Chet Harhut:
''We believe that if such electioneering remains passive and the voter takes no additional action to attempt to influence other voters in the polling place, then the wearing of clothing or buttons would not constitute electioneering,'' Harhut wrote.
Harhut also said county boards of election should be aware the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the League of Women Voters has contacted the secretary of the commonwealth, asserting that the issue involves First Amendment free-speech rights.
Many states do have laws that prohibit partisan paraphernalia from polling places and will refuse voters who are wearing political shirts, hats, butts, ect. The argument for or against the allowance of these items is debatable, but it would be nice to have a clear consensus, atleast within each state.
Most of the Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are split about the decision. More counties should be making their final decisions within the next week, so I will try to post or add information as it becomes available.
As of now, the following counties in Pennsylvania allow political clothing at the polls:
Montgomery County
Carbon County
Philadelphia County
Lehigh County
Northampton County
Schuylkill County
Berks County
York County
Centre County
The following counties in Pennsylvania do not allow political clothing at the polls:
Monroe County
Allegheny County (lawsuit still pending)
**Please let me know if your county has made a decision on the restriction and I will add it to my list**