Posted on 07/22/2007 11:29:42 AM PDT by monomaniac
Board may decide that logos on apparel are Election Day no-nos
Dayton Right to Life planned to put its name on workers, bringing about the debate of fairness with all decals.
The Montgomery County Board of Elections may ban poll workers from wearing clothing with any names or logos after members heard of Dayton Right to Life's plan to put its name on poll workers' shirts.
The plan, approved by a top board official, caught board members by surprise.
Possible backlash
They hope it won't discourage companies and organizations from helping the county find the 2,200 poll workers needed to staff 548 precincts on Election Day.
"If it means we submarine the entire program or we submarine the shirts, then so be it," Ritchie said. "They should talk to the folks that tried to take advantage of the situation."
On July 31 the board will discuss the issue, including whether poll workers can wear union shirts, as several did during the May primaries. Although Right to Life sent people to work at the polls in May, none wore the group's shirts because they were not ready, said Christi Dodson, executive director.
The 'new issue'
Political signs, literature and language are prohibited within 100 feet of the polls on Election Day and poll workers are told to not discuss candidates or issues. But the question of clothing with company or organization logos is so new, not even the Ohio secretary of state has considered the issue.
Without a directive from the secretary, the decision on clothing is up to local boards said Patrick Gallaway, spokesman for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
The issue of politically loaded logos also hasn't come up at the Franklin County Board of Elections, which has been the most aggressive board in the state in reaching out to organizations to get new poll workers.
Matthew Damschroder, board director, does not think an organization's name on a shirt constitutes political speech, however "if there is a fetus that says 'save this child', then that's probably a political message."
Polls are a 'blank slate'
But Ohio Citizen Action's Catherine Turcer said no board should permit clothing that suggests any political leaning.
"The one place that truly should be a blank slate is the place that you vote," said Turcer, the group's legislative director.
Directors of area boards of election said the abortion issue is so controversial they doubt their boards would permit poll workers to wear shirts bearing the term "right to life."
"That's such a volatile issue, I would probably try to discourage that," said Steve Quillen, director of the Miami County Board of Elections.
Llyn McCoy, Greene County board deputy director, and Michael Moore, Warren County board director, made similar remarks. In fact, said McCoy, even company names could be a problem, such as a bar's name appearing on a poll worker's shirt in a precinct with liquor issues on the ballot.
"At the end of the day the T-shirt wearing is probably not going to be our best idea," McCoy said.
'We are not there to convert somebody'
Dayton Right to Life, which has a mailing list and supporters numbering about 22,000, has as much right as any to have poll workers wear shirts with the group's name, Dodson said.
By law the nonprofit does not directly endorse or contribute to candidates, but is forming a political action committee that could do so, she said.
If voters seeing the shirts were to ask questions, Dodson said "obviously we will be there to answer questions about life issues, but I think we have to be very careful that we are helping at the polls that day. We are not there to convert somebody."
That remark was greeted with shock by county board officials, who said poll workers are never to discuss any political issue, even if no voters are in the room.
"Not in this lifetime on this board," Lieberman said.
Why is our side engaging in this? It’s clearly illegal and makes us look like cheating a-holes.
Meanwhile I always spot DNC flunkys “dropping” party lists of who to vote for at the polling centers and conveniently leaving them on top of things like the video monitor that teaches new voters how to use the machines.
I’ve pointed it out to election officials at the polls and they pick them up but without followup I can’t tell if they put them there again. I don’t even have to question the materials, as soon as I point them out they act embarassed. They KNOW it is a violation and pretend they didn’t see them.
Should polling center staff remove their bumper stickers too?
Find me the explicit endorsement of a candidate, party, or support/opposition to a specific piece of legislation in that "political message".
No, unless their cars are going to be parked inside the polling place.
You should probably rip up all the offending material, except for the one copy you take to the local newspaper to accompany the story about the material.
“If it means we submarine the entire program or we submarine the shirts, then so be it,” Ritchie said. “They should talk to the folks that tried to take advantage of the situation.”
Basically they’re saying “we want your money”, but not your opinions:
I think this quote sums up what the problem is: this liberal wants to blame the Conservatives rather than take responsibility for their obstruction..typically liberal dribble.
So, anywhere within 100 feet of a polling place is a no free speech zone. I think I read something, somewhere about there being a right to free speech in America. Where was that...
[So, anywhere within 100 feet of a polling place is a no free speech zone. I think I read something, somewhere about there being a right to free speech in America. Where was that...]
It’s in the Bill of Rights. 1st Amendment.
It’s an absolute right that trumps all other rights and we should allow any group that wants to speak have their say on election day, inside the polling place and without restriction.
Of course nobody will be able to vote at all because of the solid mass of people all fighting and screaming to project the loudest opinions inside a polling place on election day, but that’s a small price to pay for liberty.
Oh, come on. If there wasn’t this restriction polling places would be chaos. This promotes an orderly and dignified process.
I lived in LIBERAL NUT-BURGER CENTRAL, West Los Angeles during 1995-2005.
While I questioned the political and practical logic of my neighbors
that sent Henry Waxman to Congress every two years, one thing did impress me.
On Election Days, my fellow voters were quiet as they waited in line
to get their ballot.
And I never heard any “electioneering” or attempts to sway/convince
other voters to change (or NOT change) their vote.
I had steeled myself to silently endure all sorts of anti-Republican and/or
anti-conservative insults during the usual 2-minute to 2-hour
wait in line to vote.
This said, I can see any reasonable regulation to make the Election Day
as neutral, fair and unbiased an experience as possible.
No matter who wants to do the electioneering, propagandizing or persuading.
Or their personal favorite cause; no matter how virtuous.
The old Soviet elections were pretty dignified, I hear.
I see no problem with orderly electioneering outside of the actual polling area as long as voters are not intimidated, harassed, blocked from entry, or assaulted. There are already laws against that.
I also see nothing wrong with a voter wearing a t-shirt that has any political message he wants going into a polling place to vote. Poll workers should not because they are operating at that time not as private citizens, but as agents of the government.
Limited in scope, time & manner regulations have always been considered consistent with the First Amendment.
You can shout from any public forum anything you want. Polling places are a place for an orderly vote and nothing more.
You don’t even agree with yourself...
So, anywhere within 100 feet of a polling place is a no free speech zone. I think I read something, somewhere about there being a right to free speech in America. Where was that...
I see no problem with orderly electioneering outside of the actual polling area
......In this statement you are advocating a restriction of free speech.
I don't advocate unregulated free speech. It is more a disagreement of degree.
I think if I stand outside your house on the public sidewalk at 2AM with a bullhorn telling you to vote for someone, I ought to be taken to jail.
If I intimidate someone at a polling place, I should be stopped. But I am a big boy and I can handle someone handing me a piece of paper with their point of view on it, even at a polling place and even if I don't agree with them. If someone can't handle that, maybe they shouldn't be voting.
I think sometimes we're willing to give up a little too much freedom for some perceived dignity and decorum.
“It’s an absolute right that trumps all other rights’
I’d love to see a cite for that, but I don’t think you can find one.
Sorry. In my haste to post a sarcastic remark (which I believe was clearly called for) I neglected to include the sarcasm tag.
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