Law that caps what voters can wear faces U.S. challenge
Minnesota bars apparel deemed too political
WASHINGTON• A “Make America Great Again” hat. Ate apart y T shirt. A MoveOn.org button.
Wear any one of those items to vote in Minnesota, and a poll worker will probably ask you to remove it or cover it up.
Like a number of states, Minnesota bars voters from wearing political items to the polls to reduce the potential for confrontations or voter intimidation. But that could change. The Supreme Court on Feb. 28 will consider a challenge to the state’s law, in a case that could affect other states, too.
Wen Fa, a lawyer with the Pacific Legal Foundation, the group behind the challenge to Minnesota’s law, says voters wearing political apparel shouldn’t have to hang up their hats, turn their T-shirts inside out or put their buttons in their bags just to cast a ballot.
Wearing political clothing is “a passive way to express core political values,” said Fa, who said the case is “about the free speech rights of all Americans.”
Minnesota sees it differently. In court papers, it says the law is a “reasonable restriction” that preserves “order and decorum in the polling place” and prevents “voter confusion and intimidation.”
“I think what’s important to understand is the purpose of this prohibition is to protect the fundamental right to vote,” said Daniel Rogan, who is arguing the case for the state and said he doesn’t know of anyone being issued a fine of up to $300 allowed under the law. Lower courts have sided with the state.
Beyond Minnesota, state laws vary in their fashion policing of the polls.
Some states allow voters to wear whatever they want. Others bar campaign clothing directly related to candidates or issues on the ballot. Minnesota has a broad law that also bans “political” attire, including clothing promoting a group with understood political views, such as the tea party or MoveOn.org.
The sides in the Supreme Court case disagree about which states have laws similar to Minnesota’s, but each side’s number is roughly 10.
The case now before the justices began in 2010 when several groups sued after Minnesota officials made clear they wouldn’t permit residents to vote while wearing tea party apparel or buttons that said, “Please I.D. Me.” The buttons referred to legislation then under discussion in the state and ultimately defeated that would have required residents to show photo identification to vote.
Two voters who defied elections officials — one who wore a “Please I.D. Me” button and another who wore both a button and tea party Tshirt — were asked to cover up or remove the items.
Both were ultimately allowed to vote wearing the apparel, though their names were taken down for potential prosecution. Andy Cilek, one of the voters confronted by poll workers, called the policy “absurd.”
Now, at the Supreme Court, Cilek’s side has both the support of the libertarian Cato Institute and the liberal American Civil Liberties Union, and his lawyer believes the case is not one that will divide the court along ideological lines.
“The American electorate is surely hardy enough to vote their conscience even if they notice their fellow citizens wearing, say, a Black Lives Matter or AFL-CIO T-shirt, a Women’s March hat, or a pro-life or peace-sign button,” the ACLU told the court in a brief.