Connecticut Tells Voters: No WWE Gear On Election Day

If you’re a voter in The Nutmeg State, you’d better leave that Undertaker t-shirt home on Election Day:

Republicans lashed out Friday after the Connecticut secretary of state said poll workers would have the right to ask voters wearing World Wrestling Entertainment merchandise to cover up because it could be considered campaigning.

Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon left her job as chief executive of WWE to run for office. And a spokesman for Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz said McMahon is so closely associated with the organization that wrestling garb could easily be construed as political advertising.

“It’s not that much of an inconvenience in the few minutes that you’re voting that you don’t serve as an advertisement for somebody’spolitical campaign,” said Av Harris, a spokesman for Bysiewicz.

This strikes me as utterly ridiculous on a variety of levels. While it makes sense to prevent electioneering inside polling places, extending that to cover the clothing that people are wearing strikes me as a both ridiculous and, potentially, a violation of the First Amendment rights of voters.

FILED UNDER: 2010 Election, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. James says:

    This strikes me as utterly ridiculous on a variety of levels. While it makes sense to prevent electioneering inside polling places, extending that to cover the clothing that people are wearing strikes me as a both ridiculous and, potentially, a violation of the First Amendment rights of voters.

    No cell phones, No Cameras, electioneering with in 100 ft…..Texas

    Reid will serve sandwiches….Nevada ?