Anyway, I was instructed by the person overseeing the polling to ask a person wearing a Bashas uniform to leave due to it being construed as an “ad.” Seriously.

I can’t remember if it was a man or a woman, but I remember they were pissed and I felt stupid doing it. They finally turned the shirt inside out and voted. They weren’t happy.

The plot isn’t that people are scheming to throw voters out of the polls, it is that the e-mail itself twists the rules in an attempt to make going to the polling site an unpleasant experience that scares people away from polls.

Voter intimidation tactics have become a lot more clever and nuanced than having a bunch of thugs hanging the polls around intimidating people (although that still does happen, surprisingly). Its about subtly discouraging voters from showing up or sticking around at the polls. This false warning against intimidation is itself a piece of intimidation.

The ALL-CAPS nature of the email makes it sound like it’s some kind of plot. Just put on a jacket and you’ll be fine, and free to wear whatever you want when you head to work, or the grocery store, or wherever else you’ll be spending election day.

And before all the negative reaction, just think how you would feel if someone was wearing a t-shirt with something *really* inflamatory on it. It’s that kind of electioneering, which could even devolve into outright intimidation, that these laws are trying to prevent. I’m thrilled that people are excited about the electoral process this year, but part of that is embracing the intellectual civility of the process.

People can wear campaign garb. They just can’t engage in electioneering within 100 ft. So, no signs or campaigning, but wearing buttons or shirts while engaging in election business is not prohibited.

http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/elections/

Let me know if you ever want a tour of the elections facility. Fascinating stuff.

You can wear your button, T-Shirt, and be carrying a piece of campaign literature into the polls with you. It is a 1st Amendment right.

What you CAN’T do is “loiter” or “electioneer” in the polling place. That means: don’t hand out literature, tell other voters to vote for a candidate or hold up a sign, as this would constitute electioneering. Waiting on line IS NOT loitering.

Unfortunately, poll workers read these viral e-mails as much as anybody else and they don’t necessarily understand the difference between electioneering and wearing a “Go ‘bama” button. So if you are confronted by an election official who doesn’t know the rules and objects to a button, hat or literature, just put it away and VOTE THERE AND THEN. (A T-shirt may be more difficult to put away, but it will be November so just zip up the jacket.) You should not have to leave and come back.

I always look at these e-mails with a skeptical eye, and this one is particularly sneaky. It pretends to be about preventing voter intimidation, but in fact it is just another attempt to make going to the polls a little scarier.