Californians, put down the Harris-Walz camo hat. Texans, leave the MAGA gear in the car.
Those are two of the 21 states that ban campaign gear — hats, t-shirts or buttons — from polling places. The bans apply both to those working or volunteering for a candidate seeking to change last-minute votes, as well as voters who actually need to cast their ballots.
Those states typically bar voters from wearing anything displaying a candidate’s name, likeness or logo, or those of a ballot measure campaign. Indiana law specifically prohibits someone from wearing anything that includes a picture or photograph of a candidate, while Rhode Island bans only buttons or badges.
Other states allow voters to wear campaign apparel. Those who choose to do so are asked to move along once they’ve cast their ballot. Most states prohibit any electioneering inside a polling place, and some interpret that to include lingering in political apparel.
Every state has at least some restriction on political activity near a polling place, typically a ban on handing out campaign literature or soliciting votes within 50 to 200 feet of the front door.
(That ban applies to reporters, too: This reporter was once asked to leave a polling place in Kansas.)
And some states even apply a ban on electioneering to exit polls. Georgia and Missouri law require exit pollsters to stand at least 25 feet away from a polling place entrance. In Hawaii, the gap is 200 feet, and in Montana it’s 100 feet.