Somerset County debate over polling station attire sparks up again | News

SOMERSET, Pa. – Discussion has rekindled in Somerset County more than whether or not political attire is permissible for voters within polling stations on Election Day.

Meyersdale resident Chet Bittinger said that he anxieties the prohibition of this sort of attire could discourage men and women from voting – and that it violates his flexibility of speech.

Somerset County Solicitor Michael Barbera countered on Wednesday that poll employees are pursuing a county Election Code coverage that has been in spot for a long time – and that the U.S. Supreme Court has set up that polling locations are not “public forums” – indicating absolutely free speech legal rights are diminished so that citizens can work out their constitutional appropriate to vote with no political persuasion.

A May possibly 17 incident marks the second time in two decades the Somerset County Republican Bash has lifted troubles about the county’s coverage.

The previous incident transpired for the duration of the November 2020 presidential election.

This time, Bittinger, a U.S. Military veteran, wore a cap supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano into the basement of Meyersdale Masonic Lodge 554, which served as a principal election polling spot.

“I felt intimidated,” he said, introducing that an election employee advised him quite a few occasions to eliminate the hat just before handing over his ballot. After he begun voting, the worker approached him with a plan in hand, bringing up the subject matter all over again, Bittinger claimed.

“I felt like I was being harassed,” he reported.

A signal outdoors polling stations advises voters about wearing politically themed apparel, including T-shirts, inside.

When the Pennsylvania Office of State’s 2016 rules bar such attire from getting worn by poll workers and designated watchers, and discourage it in general, the pointers endorse letting voters to have on political shirts, hats or buttons below a person affliction.

“Voters who are in the polling area ought to not campaign for their preferred candidates, and judges of election need to request people voters to chorus from carrying out so while in the polling location,” the steering reads.

Barbera pressured that county election officials are not refusing an individual’s rights to vote – but they are entitled to inform voters about the county’s election insurance policies.

Barbera famous that condition code also prohibits electioneering, and as clarified in latest decades, the recommendation about political apparel presents counties the independence to make their individual selections about what conduct is not permissible in polling stations.

“There’s a lot of grey area … when it arrives to what constitutes electioneering,” he reported.

The county elections board – which involves Somerset County’s 3 commissioners, aside from a long time their seats are up for re-election, and pollworkers – has adopted an election plan that has been unchanged for many years when it will come to electioneering, Barbera said.

And that features prohibiting political apparel, he said.

“Otherwise, where by do you attract the line?” Barbera reported.

“What if the hat lights up in the candidate’s identify? What if somebody enters wearing a accommodate printed from head to toe with the phrases ‘Trump’ or ‘Biden’? At what issue is it campaigning?”

Somerset County GOP Chairman Dude Berkebile claimed he assumed the difficulty was resolved in 2020 – and stated he’s upset he listened to again from a voter who experienced challenges “just for carrying a hat with a candidate’s name on it.”

He and Bittinger achieved with Barbera and President Commissioner Gerald Walker this 7 days to focus on the problem.

“My worry is, how quite a few individuals out there are finding harassed who really don’t have the bravery to stand up for their proper, like Mr. Bittinger?” Berkebile stated. “It only looks to be a difficulty here. I’m not hearing about this from other counties.”

Barbera stated the election board will overview the coverage, introducing: “I anticipate they will establish whether clarification is necessary for both of those voters and election personnel.” There was no timetable offered.

The board is scheduled to meet up with 2 times month-to-month, quickly next county commissioners’ conferences. But the conferences only come about as essential when there is enterprise to deliberate or that may involve a board vote, Barbera claimed.