I volunteer at the early voting polling station in my small rural Virginia county. Every day there is some kind of ugliness, but today’s was the worst.
A few people were already voting when four people came in at the same time to vote. I was on the computer entering each voter and then telling the volunteer next to me what district they were in (since everyone in the county is voting early in the same location, we have to make sure they get the correct ballot because some of the towns are having elections for council and mayor).
The group was very loudly discussing their love of Trump, the stolen election of 2020 and so on. They were so loud the person sitting next to me could not hear me.
I said to the group, “ please lower your voices, people are trying to vote.” They did, but one of them asked me what my last name was (our name tags just have our first name). I told her and she asked me to spell it while she wrote it down. I did and when she was done she gave me this nasty little smile.
I worked as a poll judge back when my state had in person voting. Any mentions in the polling location of the candidates or measures could result in being removed from the polling place. The first warning to stop was a request to go back outside and read the polling location rules posted on the door. The rules included the required decorum while in the polling location. We did have a couple people that decided to challenge the rules. The first guy claimed we were violating his first amendment rights. He was told him to bring his attorney back with him if he wanted to vote. The second was a women wearing a shirt of one of the candidates. She was told to cover or remove the shirt. She made some threats while a police officer stood behind her. When asked to leave she resisted and was cuffed. 4 months later I was subpoenaed to her trial at the federal courthouse is Seattle. She found out that election interference is a serous crime.
I just checked and it appears Virginia law wouldn’t allow this within 40 ft. of the entrance to the polling place. I hope @madmonk28 has reported this incident to someone.
I gave her my name because I’m working for the county and it’s a matter of public record, both the GOP and the Democratic Party are informed of the names of the poll workers. I of course know her name and address as she had to give me identification to vote.
I reported the incident to the county registrar and told her who witnessed the incident, including a Democratic poll watcher.
This is nothing, a while back a place in town hosted a drag show and the Klan threatened to shoot it up and the sheriff refused to provide security so a bunch of us volunteered to be human shields for the performers to enter the building. The Washington Post found out and asked the sheriff why he wasn’t providing security and he suddenly found the manpower.
Life in rural Virginia is not unlike my time living in Afghanistan.
If we asked people not to wear political gear, there would be an 80% rate of refusal for voters. And the idea of the police helping us for anything less than an active shooter is pretty unrealistic.
This is the Shenandoah valley. A woman threatened a terrorist response to the mask mandate and nothing much really happened to her until it got national attention.
In fact, it specifically exempts them (unless it’s the actual candidate or their reps). Literally the opposite of Massachusetts.
D. The provisions of subsections A and C 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. This exemption shall not apply to candidates, representatives of candidates, or any other person who approaches or enters the polling place for any purpose other than voting.
One woman who has been working the polls here for years told me she ejected a disruptive person from the polls in 2020 and he said, “I’m going home to do some target shooting and then I’ll be back.” Nothing ever came of her report of the incident to the cops.
Background: I’m an election officer in Virginia, and have been since November 2020. Next month, I will be a provisional ballot specialist for the third time. I’ve already completed an in-person provisional voting refresher and virtual de-escalation training, and a final, mandatory online session — with all of the latest rules and info — will be tomorrow morning.
Some rules may vary not just by state, but by county. In mine, what’s not allowed within 40 feet of the entrance is electioneering. This extends to the election officers: we aren’t allowed to wear anything candidate-specific, and any political discussion among us during slow periods is prohibited (which, annoyingly, doesn’t stop some people). Voters, however, are allowed to wear and/or say whatever they’d like.
Here, voters are subject to very few rules/laws. Pretty much anyone who will turn 18 before the end of the year and wants to vote may do so — though they might only be allowed to vote provisionally. Even the requirements to produce an acceptable form of identification (not necessarily a photo ID!) or be a U.S. citizen can be waived with the proper form and a provisional ballot. At the height of the pandemic, election officers were required to wear masks but voters were not (though many did).
My job on election day is to simply to help people vote. Happily, my county puts as few barriers in place as possible.
