Posted on 10/27/2014 1:07:29 PM PDT by servo1969
While he was early voting on Friday, a Douglasville, Georgia man says he was asked to remove a hat he wears everywhere, one that reads “NRA Instructor,” because poll workers said it was too closely associated with the Republican party.
Bundy Cobb, who is certified by the National Rifle Association in firearms training, wears the hat in part to promote his business, True Aim Defense. But poll workers apparently saw it as something different.
“I went by the first two ladies, and they didn’t say anything. And then the next lady, she said ‘sir, you’re going to have to take off your hat,’” Cobb recalled in an interview with The Daily Caller.
“What are you talking about?” Cobb said he replied.
Cobb, who is a veteran, says he looked down the voting line and saw another man with a hat on. “What’s the difference between his hat and mine?” Cobb asked.
That’s when workers told him that his NRA hat was perceived as being associated with the GOP and that he couldn’t wear it near the voting booth.
“It kind of caught me off guard,” Cobb told TheDC, adding that he has worn the exact same hat three times to the same polling place.
“It’s ridiculous,” Cobb said. “My hat advertises my business.”
Cobb took off the hat but contacted the local Fox News affiliate in Atlanta. He also contacted the state board of elections, which, he told TheDC, is investigating the case.
Laurie Fulton, the Douglas County board of elections supervisor, explained that the decision was made out of an abundance of caution.
“The courts have found that anything that suggests associated with the NRA in many people’s perceptions is associated with the Republican party,” Fulton told Fox Atlanta. “So in an overabundance of caution Mr. Cobb was asked to remove the hat so that no one could interpret that we were playing any favoritism over one party versus the other.”
But reached for further comment, Fulton couldn’t cite the court case she alluded to and told TheDC that there was no clear precedent at the state level prohibiting NRA apparel.
Instead, Fulton said that the policy came about after she consulted a colleague following an incident that took place in Douglas County earlier this week.
“It started earlier in the week when a voter complained to me about a hat a man was wearing [an NRA hat],” Fulton told TheDC.
Like Cobb, that man removed his hat after being asked.
“I consulted with one of my contemporaries in another county,” Fulton said. They determined that the NRA hat “fell under the same sort of grey area” as a ruling that barred voters from wearing a “Don’t Tread on Me” t-shirt, Fulton said, citing apparel that is popular among tea party and other similar groups.
Fulton was unable to recall if that ruling came from the Georgia Supreme Court or the state election board.
Fulton also discussed how she handles politicized speech and apparel in her office. Once, Fulton said, she wore a “Rosie the Riveter” t-shirt to work, and a co-worker complained that it was too political. Since then, she says she cautions employees against engaging in behavior that could be seen as overly politicized. She applies the same thinking to the voting public.
Cobb called the decision ridiculous and said that NRA membership has nothing to do with political leanings.
“I know personally some Democrats who are members of the NRA,” he said.
Earlier this year a Texas man was forced to cover a pro-Second Amendment t-shirt while voting. In that incident, a gun initiative was on the ballot. No similar initiatives were on the ballot when Cobb went to the polls on Friday.
LOL. The crazies would get through...no doubt.
Should have told her:
“It is the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights!”
“If the Democrats have distanced themselves from the U.S. Constitution, that’s their problem.”
Here’s an idea. Tell ‘em “No. I won’t remove my hat.” Make a stink about this stuff now while we can still do something about this.
In fact, I’m now going to wear my Molon Labe hat, replete with GOA and NRA Life member pins when I vote.
Our country is being stolen out from under us. Silence to this sort of tyrannical abuse gives consent and only brings about more abuse. The Marxists think that they are on a roll and will not stop until forced to stop.
T-Shirts with band names on them, singers, movies, rappers, etc.
All libtard.
I really wasn't planning on voting this time around as I have nothing and nobody on the ballot to vote for. However it might be fun to wear my DTOM tee to the polls and see what happens.
Picture of Ms. Fulton at this link: http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/2518/assets/FSVQ_DO_6_5_1aSecond.jpg
I remember 2001. I brought cbs and their agenda or vote tally before the vote was recorded. libs looked at me like was crazy. What lies cbs had and displayed with election result before the election! Was a lesson learned.
It must suck for a bureaucrat when they get called on their lies.
What about a Red, White and Blue hat? A hat with the US flag on it? Any kind of American or patriotic symbol?
The outcome would have been the same.
How about a Walmart hat? Democrats hate Walmart.
my mistake was 2004
What a beast!
I ratted on a voter wearing a ‘Kerry for President’ t-shirt at the polling place back in 2004...they made him turn it inside-out. I think they were stunned to discover a conservative in their midst (Lebanon-Dartmouth bloc of soviet Red Hampshire).
Go ahead and stand your ground as far as you can go now a days with these radicals in high places. I stood up for myself several times and next I know I have 2 deputies greeting me to step outside and remove my jacket-a sports jacket. It was cold that day and my undershirt wasn’t keeping me too warm so I removed my pin. Like some say, if you haven’t made your mind up before you go there, why even go. Some want to even control some imaginary thoughts.
Back in the day they made them remove Peace Signs too in VA. They were pretty, and equally, persnickety about anything that even smacked of a political statement.
Here in Pasadena I have yet to see anyone wear anything that is “politicking”.
That all being said, he should have taken his hat off indoors anyway. Courtesy n all.
The more I read this article, the more convicned I am that the idiot poll worker actually believed NRA stands for 'National Republican Association'.
There can really be no other reason.
Poll worker: "Take off your hat please"
Me: "Si. Gracias!"
PW: "Sir, you will have to take off your hat".
Me: "Si, me gusta mucho!"
PW: "Sir, do you understand what I am saying, your hat is too political. Please remove it".
Me: "Si. Me vote!"
PW: "Sir, you can't go in there with your hat".
Me: (Pulls out ACLU voter disenfranchisement sheet) and smiles..."Si. No prolema, me vote! Vive los estados unidos!".
[our] decision was made out of an abundance of caution
[his hat] could be seen as overly politicized
[the hat is] sort of grey area
There is no legal support but they nonetheless told him he couldn't wear the hat.
And this is in Georgia!
Drip, drip, drip.
I have a lawyer on retainer... May as well earn his keep.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
