# Is it illegal to vote while wearing anything endorsing a candidate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758 "2008-09-29T20:05:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/1 "2008-09-29T20:05:20Z")
This gluge showed up in my email: > [@](#): > > NOTICE PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ADVISE EVERYONE YOU KNOW THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY CANNOT GO TO THE POLLS WEARING ANY OBAMA SHIRTS, PINS OR HATS, IT ISAGAINST THE LAW AND WILL BE GROUNDS TO HAVE THE POLLING OFFICIALS TOTURN YOU AWAY.THAT IS CONSIDERED CAMPAIGNING AND NO ONE CAN CAMPAIGN WITHIN X AMOUNTOF FEET TO THE POLLS. THEY ARE BANKING ON US BEING EXCITED AND NOT BEINGAWARE OF THIS LONG STANDING LAW THAT YOU CAN BET WILL BE ENFORCEDTHISYEAR!!! THEY ARE BANKING THAT IF ARE TURNED AWAY YOU WILL NOT GO HOME AND CHANGEYOUR CLOTHES.. PLEASE JUST DON’T WEAR OBAMA GEAR OF ANY SORTS TO THEPOLLS!! PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION, OH AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WEREALREADY AWARE THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE. JUST TRYING TO COVER ALL GROUNDS Is it true? Is there really such a law and is it enforced? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/2 "2008-09-29T20:08:33Z")
All caps: Check! Poor punctuation choices: Check! Spelling errors: Check! Multiple explanation points: Check!!! IT MUST BE TEH TRUE!!! Actually, it might be. I know they can’t poll people within a certain distance of, well, the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/3 "2008-09-29T20:10:09Z")
I can’t say for sure. Around here it IS against the law to “campaign” within 25 feet of a polling place, and the people who pass out literature, wear buttons, etc. are careful to stand outside of that line. I could see a poll worker being upset enough if you showed up at the polls to vote covered in bumper stickers of your favorite candidate to say that constitutes “campaigning” and telling you to go home and change clothes. ---
**Author:** ![rikc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c57346/32.png) [@rikc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rikc)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/4 "2008-09-29T20:10:26Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s true, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/5 "2008-09-29T20:10:35Z")
Going by memory, I believe it’s the poll workers who are prohibited from wearing anything supporting any candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/6 "2008-09-29T20:13:55Z")
Depends what your local laws are. Here in DC, the typical election goodies are not allowed into the polling place. Election workers here are told to have people remove buttons, hats, etc. No clue what they’d do if someone were wearing an Obama t-shirt, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in my precinct they would send the voter home to change. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/7 "2008-09-29T20:14:01Z")
We had this thread a couple of months ago. I can’t find it by searching; maybe somebody else can. It seems to depend on how rabid the polling workers are. If you walk in with a discreet button, you might pass; if you’re wearing a t-shirt, you might have to go out, turn it inside-out and come back before they’ll let you in. The thread also mentioned somebody who put a campaign sign in his window which was very visible to a polling place, and either got cited for it, or was worried he might. ETA: This makes me wonder what happens if I have a bumper sticker – or many bumper stickers – on my car promoting my candidate, and park very close to the poll entrance. Some people leave those things on for years. I can’t see them making me remove a single bumper sticker, but if I’ve chosen to put 10 of them on the side of my van? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/8 "2008-09-29T20:14:56Z")
[From here:](http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/a/electioneering.htm) > [@](#): > > The majority of states use language prohibiting voters and poll workers from “distributing,” “circulating,” “posting,” or “exhibiting” campaign materials within 10 to 200 feet of polling places. This is sometimes interpreted as including buttons, t-shirts, hats, and other political garb (often called “passive electioneering”), but is more often restricted to signs, posters, fliers, pamphlets, and the like. > > At least 10 states – Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont – explicitly prohibit the wearing of pins, buttons, stickers, labels, or other “political insignia.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/9 "2008-09-29T20:30:44Z")
Here in Minnesota, at the last election, when I went to polls with a political button that I had been wearing on my coat for weeks. I didn’t even remember that I was wearing it. But a poll worker came up to me and asked that I remove it or cover it while in the polling place. But I have had bumper stickers on my car in the parking lot outside the polling place, with no problem. Though I don’t think there are any poll workers out there to notice them. We often have political lawn signs placed in yards near the polling place, We always ask the homeowner to cover those signs on Election Day (though they sometimes use a lace tablecloth or a thin, threadbare sheet that you can nearly see through). That’s not required by law any longer, but people expect it, and get annoyed by any campaigning near the polling place. Same thing with ads and phone calls – the ones we do on Election Day or the night before are only reminders to get out and vote – any ‘campaigning’ ads tend to be resented by voters. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/10 "2008-09-29T22:06:15Z")
In Michigan the law says no campaign materials within a hundred feet of any doorway used by voters to enter the building where the polling place is located. This is mostly to keep solicitors with brochures from mobbing voters walking into the building. A bumper sticker on your car while you pop in and vote? Not against the regulations. A dozen bumper stickers plastered on the side of your van, and parked there all day? We’d ask you to move your vehicle at least 100 feet away. Precinct inspectors will not send any voter away because they are carrying or wearing campaign material. All we will do is ask you to remove or cover all campaign buttons or clothing, and toss or put away literature. Turning a T-shirt inside out would be fine. During the August primary some guy came in to vote wearing a shirt with some slogan or other. He taped a sheet of paper over it before walking into the polling area; that was sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/11 "2008-09-29T22:10:38Z")
My $.02: When I was in elementary school I wore a “Vote Yes” t-shirt (my mother is a school employee) and they made me turn it inside out since the school was a voting precinct. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/12 "2008-09-29T22:22:58Z")
You can’t poll with a certain distance of the voting booth, that is what they told me. My friend asked, “What if I just start screaming, ‘Vote George Bush’”, and I said, I just don’t know exactly what will happen, but it is illegal to do that. My new roommate was also in line, reading the Clinton pamphlet handed to him, and the voting people told him, “Hey, you, put that away while you’re in line.” It’s pretty simple really, don’t hassle the people while they’re voting. Don’t enter the curtain, don’t poke them in the ribs just before, and don’t nag them while in line. Yeah, you want to support your candidate, and if he’s on your shirt, maybe you don’t want to undress. But thems are the rules. I know, if you personally don’t jump up and down and wave a banner, people might vote for the wrong guy, and where will we all be in that case. But the general plan is – chill. ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/13 "2008-09-29T22:35:12Z")
In the 1984 presidential elections, they made the students remove the various campaign stickers that were on their lockers in the school I went to in Rockwall, TX, because it was a polling station. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/14 "2008-09-29T22:50:06Z")
My father-in-law got very angry about a sign posted near a polling place. It said “VOTE AQUÍ” and he thought this Aquí fellow was doing some illegal electioneering. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/15 "2008-09-29T23:29:40Z")
They were talking about this on the radio this morning. Basically, you can wear whatever you want to support your candidate. What you cannot do is call attention to it within 150 feet (I think) of the polling place with the intent to campaign. So wear an Obama shirt? Fine. Shout “Vote for change vote for change vote for change” as you’re standing in line? Not fine. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/16 "2008-09-30T06:00:37Z")
I wish more states that subscribed to the “no political crap on clothes” rule. Ballots are secret and private for a reason. I’m a progressive living in an extrordinarily conservative community and the idea that… Look, I don’t know how to say this, exactly, but there are (supposedly) places on this planet where men with guns check over marks on a ballot and a bad result is significantly more “impressive” than a bad grade in math class. To me, a free vote is almost sacred and any pressure to infringe upon my duty as a citizen - anything that infringes on my only “real” job - undermines the entire purpose of our republic. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/17 "2008-09-30T15:02:19Z")
> [@chique](#): > > I wish more states that subscribed to the “no political crap on clothes” rule. Ballots are secret and private for a reason. I’m a progressive living in an extrordinarily conservative community and the idea that… > > Look, I don’t know how to say this, exactly, but there are (supposedly) places on this planet where men with guns check over marks on a ballot and a bad result is significantly more “impressive” than a bad grade in math class. > > To me, a free vote is almost sacred and any pressure to infringe upon my duty as a citizen - anything that infringes on my only “real” job - undermines the entire purpose of our republic. Isn’t part of that freedom wearing what you want whenever you want without interference from the government? Nobody’s forcing you to wear any particular T-shirt. And nobody’s checking to make sure that the T-shirts match up with the ballots. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/18 "2008-09-30T15:03:49Z")
I think that Snopes tackled this one not too long ago. [http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/electioneering.asp](http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/electioneering.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/19 "2008-09-30T18:48:26Z")
A number of years ago, a pollworker barred me from entering the polling location until I had removed and hidden my major-league-baseball-team cap, because the ballot included a question about whether to give public funds to a stadium construction project, and my cap could be construed as lending support to the measure. (Doesn’t matter that I had been planning to, and did, vote against it.) Based on the responses so far, I suspect that the best answer is “the rules are somewhat open to interpretation depending on the individual.” I can certainly confirm from experience that they were strictly applied in my case. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758/20 "2008-09-30T18:55:15Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Depends what your local laws are. > > Here in DC, the typical election goodies are not allowed into the polling place. Election workers here are told to have people remove buttons, hats, etc. No clue what they’d do if someone were wearing an Obama t-shirt, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in my precinct they would send the voter home to change. They’d probably just ask you to turn the shirt inside-out. From the [Electioneering in DC Polling Places](http://www.dcboee.org/newsroom/) update: > [@](#): > > This means that if a voter is showing an outward sign of support for a candidate (i.e. > wearing hats, buttons, t-shirts, etc.) the voter will be asked to remove or cover the > article before entering the polling place. > This law was challenged in 1998 (Civil Action No. 98-02566) and the court found that, as > a matter of law, section 708.4 restricts speech in a manner which is both reasonable and > viewpoint-neutral. > The Board of Elections and Ethics asks that all voters in the District of Columbia turn out > to vote in a manner consistent with the law. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-vote-while-wearing-anything-endorsing-a-candidate/465758.md?page=2)