Voting? Board says check your promos at the door

RICHMOND

Got your McCain-Palin T-shirt or an Obama-Biden button ready to wear when you head to the polls Nov. 4?

Not so fast.

Virginia's top election officials adopted a policy Tuesday that allows poll workers to prevent people from voting while wearing political paraphernalia.

The rule means that those who sport clothing, stickers or buttons with campaign slogans can be asked to remove or conceal them before casting a ballot.

State Board of Elections officials said the policy was drafted in response to repeated questions from registrars and voters around the state about whether such apparel was permissible.

The board's 3-0 vote caused a stir among some civil-liberty legal groups and drew support from a voter advocacy organization.

"Silent, nondisruptive expression of political opinion is protected by the Constitution," Rebecca K. Glenberg, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said during testimony opposing the policy.

Government has the power to protect voters from forceful coercion at polling places, she acknowledged, but "there is simply no reason to believe that simply wearing a campaign button or sticker has that effect at all."

A representative of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law group made a similar case.

The policy, meanwhile, drew support from a League of Women Voters of Virginia official and a Goochland County Electoral Board member who testified.

"We need to have a neutral atmosphere, one that is welcoming but is also free of campaign material," Anne D. Sterling, legislative coordinator for the league, said at Tuesday's hearing.

She warned that while the presence of people in political garb may be seen as inoffensive in one polling place, it could be a cause for tension at another.

"This election is deeply personal for people," Sterling said.

With long lines expected at polling places on Election Day, officials hope to avoid incidents that will impede the process and inflame passions, said State Elections Board Chairwoman Jean Cunningham.

"It is a balancing act," she said. "And in this particular instance it's like, 'What is the right that we at the State Board of Elections want to both protect and make sure can be carried out?' And it is the right to vote."

Election officials will be advised to have material handy to cover up any political apparel to prevent disenfranchisement and preserve the policy requirements, she added.

"We don't want to stop anybody from voting," Cunningham said.

The policy was crafted to address ambiguities in Virginia election law and create uniform standards in the 134 localities that conduct elections, state board policy adviser James Alcorn testified.

While state code prohibits the distribution of handbills, leaflets and similar items within 40 feet of a polling place entrance, it does not specifically define the legal language barring the exhibition of "other campaign material."

The new policy defines other campaign material as apparel, buttons, stickers and the like.

State election officials left poll workers some interpretive wiggle room in the policy, which characterizes prohibited items as those that "expressly" advocate for a candidate or issue.

By that definition, shirts that mention moose burgers or community organizers - oblique references to Sarah Palin and Barack Obama - could be allowed, depending on the view of local election officials.

To be safe, Chesterfield County registrar Larry Haake advises fashion restraint on Election Day.

"Leave the stuff in the car, vote, and then put it back on when you leave," he said.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com