Ruling on Election Attire Won’t Effect Tennessee Voters

A Supreme Court ruling regarding voter dress code will not have a major impact on Tennessee, according to local election officials.

The court ruled Thursday overly broad state laws banning political attire are unconstitutional.

Craig Story is the Administrator of Elections in Overton County. He said whether something is political depends on who you ask.

“Political can have a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people, and it wasn’t narrowly defined in the law,” Story said.

Story said anything political not directly tied to a candidate or issue would be allowed in polling locations.

“That’s actually something that is specifically talked about,” Story said, “things that can be perceived as being political by certain people, but it’s not a candidate and it’s not a question that’s on the ballot. So that wouldn’t be something that we would prohibit.”

DeKalb County Elections Administrator Dennis Stanley said the Supreme Court ruled on a similar issue in Tennessee before. In 1992, the court upheld a decision barring vote solicitation and displaying campaign material within 100 feet of a polling location.

“Voters cannot wear political clothing inside the voting location,” Stanley said. “You can’t wear a t-shirt or a cap that says ‘Vote for John Doe’ if John Doe’s name is on the ballot.”

Stanley said it’s unclear whether this decision will effect Tennessee or any other state down the road.

“We don’t know what future court rulings will do or will say,” Stanley said. “As of right now, we’re just proceeding under Tennessee law.”

Both Stanley and Story said clothing regarding the NRA or Black Lives Matter would be allowed in polling locations if it’s unrelated to any candidate or issue.

The Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act does not explicitly state political clothing is prohibited.

The Supreme Court’s ruling comes after a Minnesota man was temporarily turned away from voting in February. The man was wearing a Tea Party shirt and “Please ID Me” pin at the time of the original incident.