Political speech is a critical right.

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]



** For Immediate Release: October 25, 2024
------------------------------------------------------------


** Constitutional Q&A on the First Amendment and Your Right to Vote: From Political Apparel and Ballot Selfies to Elon Musk and Taylor Swift
------------------------------------------------------------

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — With election day approaching, The Rutherford Institute has released a Constitutional Q&A on the First Amendment and the right to vote ([link removed]) , especially as it relates to the right to wear political apparel and take ballot selfies at polling places.

Each state has its own laws regarding protocol for what First Amendment activities are permissible at polling places, which can differ significantly. Conceivably, just the act of wearing a MAGA hat, a Taylor Swift t-shirt, or other apparel, which could be perceived by a poll worker as sending a political message related to candidates or issues on the ballot, could get one criminally charged or prevented from voting in some states. Additionally, some states have used concerns about vote-buying and paying people for registering—as Elon Musk has been accused of doing with his daily $1 million giveaways to registered voters in swing states—to justify prohibitions against photographing your own marked ballot or taking a “ballot selfie.” In 2016, even Justin Timberlake drew concerns from election officials for taking a selfie in a voting booth in Tennessee where it was illegal to do so. States also have various buffer zones which extend certain speech restrictions hundreds of feet beyond the
doors of the polling place.

“These polling place laws can be so vague as to prohibit citizens from voting merely for wearing clothing with images of Martin Luther King Jr. or John Lennon that could be considered ‘relating to’ an item on the ballot” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People ([link removed]) . “Yet political speech, especially speech critical of the government, is a constitutional virtue, not a harm. These bans on the passive act of displaying speech, political or otherwise, at a polling place should constitute a violation of the right to political free speech protected by the First Amendment.”
JOIN THE FIGHT TO MAKE AMERICA FREE AGAIN: $250,000 MATCHING GIFT CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY ([link removed])

Free expression at polling places has been a contentious issue with controversies over “ballot selfies” and the wearing of political apparel to polling places, even apparel that does not explicitly reference candidates, ballot issues, or politics. For example, when Linda McMahon, the wife of then World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon, ran for the U.S. Senate, there were questions over whether voters in Connecticut could be turned away for wearing WWE merchandise. In Georgia, a man was ordered to remove his NRA hat while going to vote. In Texas, it is a crime for a person to merely wear apparel “relating to” a candidate, measure, or political party appearing on the ballot or to the conduct of the election while within a polling place or 100 feet of the outside doors.

In 1992, the Supreme Court upheld buffer zones around polling places as constitutional, and then in 2018 the Court declared that polling places are nonpublic forums ([link removed]) where speech can be restricted based on certain political content. Earlier this year, the Court gave government officials the green light to obstruct citizens from voting at polling places based on wearing political apparel that might relate to an item on a ballot when the Court refused to hear the appeal of Jillian Ostrewich ([link removed]) , who was prevented from voting in Texas while wearing a shirt that contained a union logo and the words “Houston Fire Fighters” because the ballot included
a proposition concerning wages for Houston's firefighters. In order to vote, Ostrewich had to turn her shirt inside-out. The Rutherford Institute’s Constitutional Q&A ([link removed]) seeks to inform voters of such laws and their rights at the polls.

The Rutherford Institute ([link removed]) , a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.

This press release is also available at www.rutherford.org ([link removed]) .

Source: [link removed]
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frutherford%2Fconstitutional-qa-on-the-first-amendment-and-your-right-to-vote Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frutherford%2Fconstitutional-qa-on-the-first-amendment-and-your-right-to-vote)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
MAKE THE GOVERNMENT PLAY BY THE RULES OF THE CONSTITUTION: MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE ([link removed])

To donate via PayPal, please click below:
[link removed]

============================================================
** Follow us on Facebook ([link removed])
** Follow us on Facebook ([link removed])
** Follow us on Twitter ([link removed])
** Follow us on Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
CONTACT INFORMATION
Nisha Whitehead
(434) 978-3888 ext. 604
** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE
Post Office Box 7482
Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482
Phone: (434) 978-3888
** www.rutherford.org ([link removed])

Copyright © 2024 The Rutherford Institute, All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because of your interest in the work of The Rutherford Institute. Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated. To discontinue your membership electronically, or if you feel you are receiving this message in error, please follow the link below.

Under the regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service, The Rutherford Institute is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization. Donations to support The Rutherford Institute’s legal and educational work help to safeguard the constitutional rights of all Americans. Donations are tax-deductible. In compliance with general industry standards of a nonprofit organization, the Institute is audited annually by an independent accounting firm.

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])

** update subscription preferences ([link removed])