The GOP has not given up the ridiculous fight over whether a voter in PA is allowed to wear a campaign button or a shirt with their candidate's name on it while they vote. Two Republican officials sued in Commonwealth Court to seek a ban. The State Republican Party endorsed that lawsuit, which has not yet been decided.
We thought the issue had been ended when the PA. Department of State's Commissioner of Elections (the top elections official) sent a letter to all counties in PA. telling them to not turn away voters for simply wearing a button or a shirt promoting their candidate. "Active" campaigning inside a polling place is still prohibited, but simply wearing a button or shirt is considered "passive." But many Republican-controlled counties say they will ignore that letter.
Montgomery County (one of the most populated counties in PA) is saying they will turn away voters. The head of the Montgomery County GOP, Robert Kern Sr., wrote an editorial in the Phila. Inquirer Sunday saying that voters should be turned away for wearing a button or a shirt.
(FYI - A recent predecessor to Mr. Kern in that role had spent time in prison for felony political corruption).
The ACLU and the PA. Democratic Party say it is an attempt to intimidate voters, especially younger first time voters. It could particularly be an issue in a polling place with long lines (which often happens near colleges), if a person has to leave to change their shirt just as they are ready to vote, or if they don't have time to go home and change.
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Here's the State's letter:
http://www.aclupa.org/downloads/PassiveElectioneering.pdfHere's excerpts from a recent AP news article on the issue:
http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2008/10/06/news/state/s_news178.txtMontgomery County, a highly competitive political battleground in suburban Philadelphia, is sticking with its policy banning voters from wearing political buttons or related attire into the polls.
Douglas Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said he had no hard numbers but that he believes the 67 counties are now ENVENLY split on the question.
...state elections commissioner Chet Harhut ...stressed the importance of not depriving citizens of their right to vote and said local officials should allow voters to wear partisan attire "if such electioneering remains passive and the voter takes no additional action to attempt to influence other voters."
Several counties in PA., such as York and Lehigh, said recently they will not kick out voters for wearing a political button or shirt.
In Montgomery, Monroe, Carbon and unknown other counties, it would be valuable for elections protection volunteers to keep a couple extra large plain T-shirts handy in case someone is turned away. One person from Montgomery County said the County Dem party has done this in the past.