I live in a very conservative county. In 2004, we had a poll watcher show up wearing 2 Kerry buttons and a Kerry hat. She stuck a Kerry lawn sign in the ground 6 feet from the polling place door and crossed her arms and just stared at us standing in line. We asked the retired deputy who was guarding the door if that was legal. He said, “they warned us to let them do whatever they want. But if you touch that sign, I’ll have to have you arrested.”
I called the supervisor of elections later and they explained that the Dems had shown up with lawyers prepared to file a suit for any attempt to stop their watchers. They win by manufacturing a situation and then suing to prevent anyone from reacting to it.
The proper reaction would have been to get two bigger Bush signs, block the Kerry sign with them and dare the ‘Rats to protest it.
if the watcher was dead, would the buttons matter?
Two can play THAT game! The difference is, we would not HAVE TO manufacture things!
“In 2004, we had a poll watcher show up wearing 2 Kerry buttons and a Kerry hat. She stuck a Kerry lawn sign in the ground 6 feet from the polling place door and crossed her arms and just stared at us standing in line.”
Check with the laws in your state, but there’s probably a set distance from the polling place in which a person can campaign for a candidate. Clearly the “poll watcher” you mention was campaigning for Kerry.
At the polls in my county, there is absolutely no campaigning allowed within 100 ft of the polls. This includes tee shirts, buttons, and signs. There is a bit of a grey area when it comes to bumper stickers. If a person has one on their car and is just showing up to vote, they get a pass. A number of years ago when I was a poll watcher, a rat poll watcher showed up also. She had her car plastered in rat stickers and parked as close to the entrance as she could. I told her to move her car, to which she refused. I then made a few phone calls and she was told that if she didn’t move her car, which was just a rolling campaign sign, she would be arrested. I’m not sure what to tell you when the cops your dealing with refuse to enforce the laws other than depending how strongly you believe in having honest elections, you may have to risk going to jail yourself to stand up for what is right. Document everything if possible.