By: Charles Mombo
http://www.Chocolatecity.cc/blog
Sen. Obama (Reuters: Jason Reed)
Electioneering is the act of persuading or attempting to persuade; communication intended to induce belief or action.
The answer to this question in most states is not a straight forward “Yes” or “No” answer. As an example, Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of State, with a little prodding from the American Civil Liberties Union agreed to the wearing of a candidate’s pin,t-shirt or button in a polling place. Pennsylvania Election advised counties to allow "passive electioneering" within polling stations, which it said includes "wearing tee shirts, clothing or buttons with the candidate’s or party’s name, picture or emblem."
A memo was written after the American Civil Liberties Union and League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, citing First Amendment rights, asked the department to narrow its definition of "electioneer."
If you are in Illinois and several other states, I will warn you not to get excited just yet.
What actually prompted my concern to blog on this topic? Well, today an email was forwarded to me from a former student, Ms. Rukiya Taylor. The email along with its title reads as follow:
PLEASE READ ASAP! – Important Info about Voting Day!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ADVISE EVERYONE YOU KNOW THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY CAN
NOT GO TO THE POLLS WEARING ANY OBAMA SHIRTS, PINS OR HATS, IT IS
AGAINST THE LAW AND WILL BE GROUNDS TO HAVE THE POLLING OFFICIALS TO
TURN YOU AWAY.
THAT IS CONSIDERED CAMPAIGNING AND NO ONE CAN CAMPAIGN WITHIN X AMOUNT
OF FEET TO THE POLLS. THEY ARE BANKING ON US BEING EXCITED AND NOT BEING
AWARE OF THIS LONG STANDING LAW THAT YOU CAN BET WILL BE ENFORCED THIS
YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEY ARE BANKING THAT IF ARE TURNED AWAY YOU WILL NOT GO HOME AND CHANGE
YOUR CLOTHES.. PLEASE JUST DON’T WEAR OBAMA GEAR OF ANY SORTS TO THE
POLLS!! PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION, OH AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE
ALREADY AWARE THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE. JUST
TRYING TO COVER ALL GROUNDS.
Since the above email and its many IP Addresses orginated within the State of Illinois, I immediately called the Illinois State Board of Elections in Springfield, Illinois at 217-217-782-4141 to verified the accuracy of the above email. I was transferred to an attorney who literally walked me through the Illinois Election Code Section 7.29 which basically states that it is the "sole discretion of the election officers" to ask one to remove his/her candidate’s t-shirt, hat or button if they deem it to be offensive.
Election 2008 is not a joke. The US Presidential Election of 2008 has already been one of the most exciting elections in modern history. Therefore, if one insist on wearing Obama’s or McCain’s t-shirt, be prepared to have another shirt underneath just incase you are asked to remove your candidate’s shirt.
Personally, to play it safe, I suggest that you do not wear your t-shirt, hat or button until you have left the polling station.
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Thanks CC for this informative blog…I will pass it on!
Great piece of information, I had decided on wearing my Obama’s t-shirt but I will wait until I am done voting.
You guys/gals can have a Guinness on me. Thanks for the follow-up.