On Election Day, Vote For Obama But Don't Wear Your Support To The Polls

More than a hundred million people will vote for the next President of the United States on November 4th and most will be inevitably be Obama supporters. However, those of us voting for change instead of more than the same should be forewarned about wearing Obama gear. Here in New York City, Obama buttons, t-shirts and hats can be seen everywhere on the streets and posters adorn many windows above. To avoid any trouble when casting your ballot, the NYCLU is telling people to leave the gak at home and simply bring your ability to vote.

From The NYCity News Service:

An obscure, seldom-enforced state law bars anyone from wearing political buttons and other campaign paraphernalia within “a 100-foot radial measured from the entrances of the voting booth.”

With the election just over a month away, the law is suddenly gaining notice: an email begging potential Obama voters to “PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE” leave T-shirts and buttons home on Election Day is circulating on the Internet – spurring worried calls and emails to state election officials. The New York Civil Liberties Union plans – for the first time – to include a similar warning in its voter information materials.

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in Pennsylvania are calling on officials to enforce that state’s similar “passive electioneering” law banning campaign paraphernalia at the polls, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sept. 19.

In New York, election officials said they would stick to the law even as they tried to downplay concerns.

However you may feel about the law, it can not and will not be changed before election day. So keep it in mind. On November 4th electioneers will be doing whatever they can to make sure their candidate is elected. One side will be trying to get as many people to the polls and the other will be preventing a large swath of the population. So make their job a little harder here in New York and wear your Obama stuff after, or put a sweatshirt over the Obama t-shirt and hide the button for the few minutes spent at your local polling site.

Just Another Election Day In Ohio

Officials in Ohio promised that today's election would go smoothly despite the expected record turnout. Of course we have to remember that this is Ohio, and things will go a little crazy no matter what. The votes have not even begun to have been counted yet, and there are already myriad problems across the state.

From RawStory:

An elections official in Ohio predicted the state would "shine" in tabulating results for Tuesday's primary elections, despite the state's history of voting problems. However, there had been scattered reports of confusion and delay by early afternoon.

One of the most dramatic problems Tuesday had nothing to do with ballot designs or electronic voting machines. A polling place at a northeast Ohio school closed for 90 minutes because of a bomb threat.

The threat was called in around 9:30 a.m., and about 14 voters were turned away while a bomb-sniffing dog searched the school, according to the Associated Press. All 14 voters said they would return to the polling place later Tuesday. No bomb was found and the school re-opened around 11 a.m.

And that was just the beginning of it. There were tabs you had to rip off that said not to rip off, people that accidentally voted for Dennis Kucinich and then there were stories of polling locations with multiple machine breakdowns and no remedies for the problem. So after almost four years since the state elections people screwed up voting for their fellow Ohioans, not much has changed....and I doubt much will happen before November either.

Just another reason to back a 50 state strategy....and not rely on one of a handful of swing states.