Wearing Harris or Trump merch to vote? Where political gear is not allowed at the polls

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5, and if you are heading to the polls, there are some things to remember.

Voting is exciting, and people may want to show their support for the candidate they're backing by wearing a button with their name or even a t-shirt or hat when they vote. But they may be asked to change their clothes or remove their hats or buttons before they enter the polling place, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, NCSL.

This could affect anyone, depending on where they live.

Why can't I wear a political shirt to the polls?

Wearing campaign apparel to go vote may seem as innocent as a Swifty wearing a shirt with the pop star's face on it or a button with lyrics of "Cruel Summer" printed on it, but it isn't that simple.

Wearing campaign merchandise is seen as electioneering, when people try to persuade others to vote for a specific party or issue, according to the Cambridge Dictionary.

Wearing campaign apparel is banned in 21 states, according to the NCSL.

What is campaign apparel?

Campaign apparel can be the following:

• Apparel- Like shirts, pants, dresses, or other clothing items

• Hats

• Buttons

• Stickers

• Placards

What happens if you accidentally wear a candidate's merch to the polls?

It depends. Louisiana, which is not listed on NCSL's list of states that ban apparel, still asks people not to wear campaign merchandise.

There, voters are not allowed to wear campaign apparel within 600 feet of the polls, Joel Watson, Lousianna's Deputy Secretary of State for communications, told USA TODAY.

Anyone who shows up to a Louisiana polling place wearing a button, hat, shirt or other campaign apparel "would be asked to either turn the shirt inside out, remove the button [and] put it back in their car. Same thing with the hat," said Watson. "If they refused to do so, they would be asked to leave."

But asking people to leave is a worst-case scenario.

"We want to give people the chance to vote," he said. "So we just asked them to remove those particular items before they come back to the polling place."

What can you wear?

Watson recommends people avoid wearing anything with the following:

• Candidate's name

• Candidate's slogan - like former President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" or Vice President Harris's "When we fight, we win."

• Apparel that states support or opposition to an amendment on the ballot- For example, a button that says "Vote Yes on 4"

"If it's not electioneering, then it's allowed," said Watson.

Which states don't allow it?

This data is according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The states in yellow and denoted "yes" are states where it is outright banned. The states in blue and denoted "no" are states where it is not banned although rules could still vary like in Louisiana so double check before you go vote.

Violence over election apparel

The ban on election merch is not new. Still, a voter in Texas assaulted an election clerk, 69, who told him he could not wear a red "Make America Great Again" hat at the polls because it was against the law, according to USA TODAY's previous reporting.

Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, was arrested on Oct. 24 after he "threw several punches right at the face of the victim," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said at a news conference the day after the incident.

The clerk was working at a polling place in Bexar County, Texas, which includes San Antonio.

In Texas, wearing a hat, like a MAGA or "Harris Walz" baseball cap is considered electioneering, which is not allowed within 100 feet of the polling place's entrance, according to NCSL.

Lutzenberger was charged with injury to an elderly person and faces a third-degree felony.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen; USA TODAY

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Voting: See map of states that have banned campaign apparel