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 Harrisburg:
Sue Nace thought election volunteers were joking when they
told her she would have to remove her T-shirt to vote in the
presidential primary last spring.
But it was no laughing matter to the poll
workers-turned-fashion police, who said Nace's Obama shirt
was inappropriate electioneering — and made her cover the
writing before casting a ballot.
Now, a political fight over what voters can wear to the polls
is headed to court in Pennsylvania — with the Republican
Party favouring a dress code and Democrats |
 opposing.
To the GOP, the lack of rules could open
the door to all kinds of questionable
displays — even, one Republican leader
suggested, something as outlandish as a
musical hat.
To the Democrats, voters should be free to
express themselves. They fear a dress code
could scare away some new voters.
The political showdown was triggered by a
Pennsylvania Department of State memo
advising counties last month that voters'
attire doesn't matter as long as the
"voter takes no additional action to
attempt to influence other voters."
Because the memo is not legally binding,
some counties have kept past restrictions
on clothing and political buttons.
But two Pittsburgh-area elections
officials sued to have the memo rescinded.
Their lawsuit warned that if the memo
stands, "nothing would prevent a partisan
group from synchronising a battalion of
like-minded individuals ... to descend on
a polling place, presenting a domineering,
united front, certain to dissuade the
average citizen who may privately hold
different beliefs."
This fight over the interpretation of a
state law designed to shield the polls
from partisan electioneering could
determine which presidential candidate's
supporters might be turned away from the
polls in this battleground state.
Democrats have benefited from a surge in
voter registration this year, with young
adults 18-24 making up the largest group
of new registrants, according to
statistics from March 30 to September 8. A
poll released on Wednesday by Quinnipiac
University showed Democratic presidential
candidate Barack Obama pulling 15
percentage points ahead of Republican John
McCain in the state.
State Democratic Party chairman T J Rooney
said GOP support for the dress code was a
partisan effort to scare away new voters.
"To go (to the polls) and engage in an
expression of democracy and then be
accosted by the fashion police is a form
of voter intimidation," he said.
The state Republican Party says Democratic
Gov Ed Rendell's administration crafted a
partisan memo that would open the door to
abuses.
"The first thing would be a button or a
shirt, and maybe the next thing would be a
musical hat," said GOP chairman Robert
Gleason, who called a news conference in
support of dress codes.
Douglas Hill, head of Pennsylvania's
association of county commissioners,
believes the state's 67 counties are now
evenly split on the question. Before the
memo, counties leaned toward banning
politically polarising clothing and
buttons because "they didn't want to get
into fine-line disputes," he said.
Nace, a 44-year-old Obama supporter, hopes
the state's recommendation will stand so
she can vote Nov. 4 while wearing her
political leanings on her sleeve.
"Especially with this election, for some
reason it feels very personal to me," she
said. "Even when I see another car with a
bumper sticker on it, it's like, 'Yeah,
they get it.'"
During the April 22 primary, Nace was
allowed into the voting booth in York
County only after she rolled up her Obama
T-shirt to hide the writing. After the
state memo came out, York County rescinded
its ban.
At least four states — Maine, Montana,
Vermont and Kansas_ explicitly prohibit
wearing campaign buttons, stickers and
badges inside polling places, according to
the National Conference of State
Legislatures and state officials.
In Kentucky, elections officials last
month told poll workers they should admit
voters decked out in campaign apparel,
after e-mails circulated warning that
Obama supporters would be turned away if
they wore shirts and pins. |
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