Free Speech or Illegal Electioneering?
Did you ever wonder why, when you go to the polls on election day, that a forest of campaign signs has sprung up overnight, but not in the voting booth itself, not in the polling room, not in the hallway outside the polling room, not at the door to the building housing the polls, and not on the walk leading up to the door? You may also be met in the parking lot by a volunteer passing out campaign literature, but not at the doorway or inside the polling place. This is not an accident. It's not a courtesy by the politicians running for office. It's because of laws prohibiting people from "distributing," "circulating," "posting," or "exhibiting" campaign materials within a certain distance of polling places. In Texas, the ban includes buttons, t-shirts, hats and not just standalone signs. Ironic, isn't it, that the one place you can escape the incessant electioneering that marks American politics is the voting booth itself? Ironic and welcome.
Not to Trey Garrison. In a rant on his own blog, he lays into laws that keep electioneering a respectful distance from the polling booths. He says he's wracked his brains and can't come up with any reasons why we might want to prohibit polling place electioneering. He insists that polling place electioneering is "one of our most sacred rights enumerated in the first 10 Amendments." He says "The Powers That Be" need help remembering they're there to serve us. And this voter, for one, appreciates their efforts to ensure that I can vote in peace, in the one place in America where the politicians can't go, the polling place itself.
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