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.
How about my new obama sneakers?
Gee, I walked by an early voting location last week and 2 girls from NextGen Climate had set up a table directly across the street from one of the entrances. They were giving out brochures instructing people who NOT to vote for (the Republican, of course) and had a big bowl of candy to get students to stop. I estimated they were only 20 ft. from the door because they actually had their table on the “parking” - the city-owned property between the sidewalk and the street. The voting locating was at a private college campus and I’m pretty sure Security made them do that so they weren’t technically on campus property. So, I didn’t see any poll workers fretting over that!! I called the county Auditor office and complained. He said they would send someone down. I was busy and unable to follow up. Made my blood boil. I bet they are pulling that all over the country and college campuses are the perfect place to get away with it.
In pursuit of my comment in #66, I’ve written to Ms. Fulton. I hope more people do the same. - bdofelections@co.douglas.ga.us
Correction: I estimated the street width to be 20 ft. - but they were probably 40 ft. away. The law in our state says NO electioneering with 300 YARDS of a voting location entrance.
Actually, it would be more fun to wear an ICE hat in certain precincts....
Maybe is Abortion hat was dirty.
As a vet, he should know better than to not remove his hat when indoors.
An outright lie.
I’d have claimed “But i’m voting a Democratic ticket!!!” LOL
You just made me throw up in my mouth a little.
And it's just a coincidence that a hat which is intimately associated with the commie-progressive-Democrats can never trigger the same level of caution...
Uh huh.
Bullsh*t.
The ADA has enabled thousands of such dumb beasts everywhere...
My sister got me that one for my birthday this year. Love wearing it to see the libs eyeballs pop out.
When I work at the polls they won’t let me wear my “Rush Is Right” hat either.
;^)
Dad got me one too - wear it to gun shows and near lib establishments when I’m out and about ....
If it said black panther party no one dare question it
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