Wearing clothing in support of political candidates within polling locations is illegal in Texas.
this looks logical on paper, but is absolutely fucking stupid in practice. poll workers already have to watch out for a million things without having to enforce some dress code that fucking obviously trump supporters are going to ignore, and when minimum wage election workers go to enforce this dumb rule, of course the troompa loompas are going to be painted as victims by fox news
In my state, if someone is interfering with a poll worker, the police are required to arrest them when called on to do so. If the police don’t, then they are subject to arrest themselves.
Man that sounds great! I wonder if we can figure out what the average response would be?
Maybe take the news around the country into account and guess how it would generally play out. Then extrapolate that data into trying to understand why someone would be more hesitant to put themselves into this situation?
i’m saying the law is stupid and was created deliberately to cause more problems for election workers, because if you’re not painfully aware of the fact that one of trump supporters’ core purposes for existence is to flaunt their culty trumpishness, then i don’t know what to tell you.
i am an election worker. yesterday i had someone come in with a “I’M VOTING FOR THE FELON” shirt. i can’t speak for everyone, but if it was part of my job to turn people away because they’re not following some ridiculous dress code, i’d be putting in my 2 seconds notice.
it’s not about “following the rules” it’s about the rule is fucking stupid and intentionally created to cause conflict in a place with enough of that shit already
It’s not a stupid law. It exists to protect voters from intimidation.
If the law makes no provision for enforcement, then that is certainly stupid.
As I understand it, in my state not only is it illegal to interfere with a poll worker, it’s also illegal for the police to not make an arrest when the poll worker demands it under the law.
we already protect voters from intimidation, with very strict rules about who’s allowed in and around the voting room, and within a certain distance of the building. wearing a t-shirt is not intimidation, despite what you’ve been told by the people who somehow convinced you that it is.
suspending everyone’s first amendment right is already a contentious issue, but there is no feasible way to have this enforcement burden sit on anyone’s shoulders except for the abysmally paid election workers who are already having to monitor and enforce dozens of voting rules.
the law is fucking stupid
edit: also, who’s defining what’s “political” or not? where do you draw the line? are rainbow flags disallowed? they would have to be, otherwise you’re dealing with “why can that guy wear a rainbow but i can’t wear my trump hat?!”
what about “that guy’s wearing a shirt with a gun on it”–is that enough to turn that person away? “that guy’s wearing red, obviously trying to intimidate me”?
again, as an election worker, if it was my job to scrutinize every piece of every person’s clothing and turn people away based on some nebulous definition of “political speech,” i’d be walking out. maybe that’s the idea
The problem is not the law, it’s enforcement. It’s only a problem now because no enforcement is ever made until. Until it’s a huge problem. Until it’s an incident. If you let the individual act like they are more important than the society they exist in, this is what you get. Fetishized individualism.
In performing duties under Subsection (a), the presiding judge may appoint one or more persons to act as special peace officers for the polling place. A special peace officer may not enforce the prohibition against electioneering or loitering near the polling place unless the officer’s appointment is approved by the presiding officer of the local canvassing authority.
it’s part of the code that police don’t interfere until the election workers ask them to, aka something already happens
so yes, senior citizens literally are the ones charged with upholding this law. no one seems to be able to refute my point that the law itself is fucking stupid
I remember as a kid going with my parents to vote. All of the folks with signs had to stand by the road instead of in the parking lot because of the electioneering laws. This was back in the 90s, so they have indeed been enforced for a long time. This was back before the red side was violent and unhinged like they are today, so I would say that electioneering laws are more important today than they ever have been.
Hey NANDad, if you’re interested in being the “Trump gear enforcement officer” I’m sure they’d love to have you! But no, he’s not arguing that. I think you understood that, didn’t you? He’s arguing poll workers shouldn’t be doing it.
Yeah, but that’s not what he said, and the way things are now, it’s impossible to know what someone is saying unless they actually say it.
Edit: You are right about one point. Every time I go to vote, the polling place is staffed by fragile, elderly men and women.
I’ve been told I have a “resting murder face”. Maybe I’m the kind of person who should be there. I just submitted an application to be a poll worker. Wish me luck.
This will be my third time as an election official. I’m “just” in my early 50s and am the kid in the room that’s good with computers. A younger generation of poll workers is desperately needed. I have to use a vacation day to do it, but am glad I have that ability.
I was a poll watcher in Texas. Electioneering was never a big deal before because you didn’t have people whose entire personality was being Donald Trump cult members. Electioneering violations were almost always small candidates trying to get name recognition at the last second. They’d have someone post up with a car with signs on it.
But the rules were good for reducing tension because the line to keep out was clear and it kept politicking out of the voting area.
Obviously the entire concept of reducing tension is foreign to the Trump nutters.
this looks logical on paper, but is absolutely fucking stupid in practice. poll workers already have to watch out for a million things without having to enforce some dress code that fucking obviously trump supporters are going to ignore, and when minimum wage election workers go to enforce this dumb rule, of course the troompa loompas are going to be painted as victims by fox news
So, are you arguing that we should let trump supporters violate the laws so we don’t upset them?
Unless you want to have someone with the right equipment and training to deal with those escalations, he’s right.
Unfortunately, the cops are wearing the Trump clothing.
Then the cops should be arrested.
In my state, if someone is interfering with a poll worker, the police are required to arrest them when called on to do so. If the police don’t, then they are subject to arrest themselves.
Man that sounds great! I wonder if we can figure out what the average response would be? Maybe take the news around the country into account and guess how it would generally play out. Then extrapolate that data into trying to understand why someone would be more hesitant to put themselves into this situation?
Imagine
i’m saying the law is stupid and was created deliberately to cause more problems for election workers, because if you’re not painfully aware of the fact that one of trump supporters’ core purposes for existence is to flaunt their culty trumpishness, then i don’t know what to tell you.
i am an election worker. yesterday i had someone come in with a “I’M VOTING FOR THE FELON” shirt. i can’t speak for everyone, but if it was part of my job to turn people away because they’re not following some ridiculous dress code, i’d be putting in my 2 seconds notice.
it’s not about “following the rules” it’s about the rule is fucking stupid and intentionally created to cause conflict in a place with enough of that shit already
It’s not a stupid law. It exists to protect voters from intimidation.
If the law makes no provision for enforcement, then that is certainly stupid.
As I understand it, in my state not only is it illegal to interfere with a poll worker, it’s also illegal for the police to not make an arrest when the poll worker demands it under the law.
we already protect voters from intimidation, with very strict rules about who’s allowed in and around the voting room, and within a certain distance of the building. wearing a t-shirt is not intimidation, despite what you’ve been told by the people who somehow convinced you that it is.
suspending everyone’s first amendment right is already a contentious issue, but there is no feasible way to have this enforcement burden sit on anyone’s shoulders except for the abysmally paid election workers who are already having to monitor and enforce dozens of voting rules.
the law is fucking stupid
edit: also, who’s defining what’s “political” or not? where do you draw the line? are rainbow flags disallowed? they would have to be, otherwise you’re dealing with “why can that guy wear a rainbow but i can’t wear my trump hat?!”
what about “that guy’s wearing a shirt with a gun on it”–is that enough to turn that person away? “that guy’s wearing red, obviously trying to intimidate me”?
again, as an election worker, if it was my job to scrutinize every piece of every person’s clothing and turn people away based on some nebulous definition of “political speech,” i’d be walking out. maybe that’s the idea
The problem is not the law, it’s enforcement. It’s only a problem now because no enforcement is ever made until. Until it’s a huge problem. Until it’s an incident. If you let the individual act like they are more important than the society they exist in, this is what you get. Fetishized individualism.
classy. blame the senior citizen who was forced to confront the type of person who’s constantly looking for a reason to start fights.
nope. the problem IS the law, which by the way, doesn’t exist in most states and hasn’t been a problem
Ah yes, senior citizens are the ones charged with upholding laws.
This was a result of no enforcement, this wasn’t the enforcement.
https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._election_code_section_32.075
it’s part of the code that police don’t interfere until the election workers ask them to, aka something already happens
so yes, senior citizens literally are the ones charged with upholding this law. no one seems to be able to refute my point that the law itself is fucking stupid
I remember as a kid going with my parents to vote. All of the folks with signs had to stand by the road instead of in the parking lot because of the electioneering laws. This was back in the 90s, so they have indeed been enforced for a long time. This was back before the red side was violent and unhinged like they are today, so I would say that electioneering laws are more important today than they ever have been.
Hey NANDad, if you’re interested in being the “Trump gear enforcement officer” I’m sure they’d love to have you! But no, he’s not arguing that. I think you understood that, didn’t you? He’s arguing poll workers shouldn’t be doing it.
Yeah, but that’s not what he said, and the way things are now, it’s impossible to know what someone is saying unless they actually say it.
Edit: You are right about one point. Every time I go to vote, the polling place is staffed by fragile, elderly men and women.
I’ve been told I have a “resting murder face”. Maybe I’m the kind of person who should be there. I just submitted an application to be a poll worker. Wish me luck.
This will be my third time as an election official. I’m “just” in my early 50s and am the kid in the room that’s good with computers. A younger generation of poll workers is desperately needed. I have to use a vacation day to do it, but am glad I have that ability.
That’s awesome! Good luck!
Stop making sense!
i keep forgetting i live in a world where trump might be dictator in a couple months. reason is fucking gone. maybe never to return in our lifetime
I was a poll watcher in Texas. Electioneering was never a big deal before because you didn’t have people whose entire personality was being Donald Trump cult members. Electioneering violations were almost always small candidates trying to get name recognition at the last second. They’d have someone post up with a car with signs on it.
But the rules were good for reducing tension because the line to keep out was clear and it kept politicking out of the voting area.
Obviously the entire concept of reducing tension is foreign to the Trump nutters.