Erie County election commissioners remind residents of state’s electioneering laws

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Erie County election commissioners reminded residents of electioneering laws as New York is one of 21 states who by law prohibit anyone from wearing campaign apparel within a certain distance of a polling location.

This past Saturday, a few individuals didn’t follow that rule, which witnesses said caused a scene.

“The public needs to know they need to be respectful when they come in and 99.9 percent have been,” said Jeremy Zellner, Erie County elections commissioner and Erie County Democratic Committee chair.

New York’s electioneering laws prohibit people from wearing anything that shows a political party candidate name or ballot issue within 100 feet of the entrance to a voting site.

“Electioneering can take a number of forms. It can take passing out literature, it can be wearing distinctive clothing in favor of a candidate,” said Erie County Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr.

Both Mohr and Zellner along with an eyewitness at the West Seneca polling site said on Saturday, three voters in line were wearing merchandise for former president Donald Trump.

The election officer kindly said that it was illegal to promote a particular candidate and to cover their shirts, sparking outrage from the three and those in line.

“Wearing a ‘make America great again’ hat is not a candidate, so they can wear those to the polls,” Zellner said. “That’s a political philosophy, not a candidate.”

The individuals were eventually able to vote after covering the political candidates’ name.

The Erie County Board of Elections reported that Saturday set a record, with over 18,000 residents casting a ballot on the first day of early voting and a total of over 50,000 having early voted by Monday night, the majority of which followed the rules with no problems.

“People understand the nature of it. They don’t want to be intimidated going to vote and it’s rare that somebody is going to be influenced because of a person standing in line next to them wears a Harris or a Trump hat,” Mohr said. “They already know who they’re going to vote for. They’ve already probably made up their mind at that point, so it’s just a matter of common courtesy to your neighbor.”

“We don’t want other people to be uncomfortable at the polls, so just do the best you can and as I said, 99.9 percent of the voting has been terrific,” Zellner said.

Early voting continues until 5 p.m. this Sunday. Poll sites will be closed Monday and reopen for the general election starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

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Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

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