Some Questioned Whether It’s Okay To Wear Candidate Clothing. It Is.
BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Yes, it is completely okay to wear hats, shirts, and pins promoting a candidate if you go to polling places in South Florida. Several BocaNewsNow.com readers reached out after seeing voters — like the woman above — appearing to promote candidates through what they’re wearing while standing at a polling location. According to Florida law, it’s completely okay.
According to materials provided by Florida election officials: ““Voters may wear campaign buttons, shirts, hats, or any other campaign items when they enter the polling place to vote; voters may not otherwise campaign there.” (From the Polling Place Procedures Manual incorporated within Rule 1S-2.034, Florida Administrative Code) So, merely going to the polls wearing campaign paraphernalia is OK, but, by statute (fs.102.031(4), Florida Statutes), one cannot solicit voters within 100 feet of the entrance to any polling place.”
The simple answer: this woman is doing nothing wrong. While she may be an outlier based on registration numbers released by the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections (where 331,645 voters in Palm Beach County are registered democrats while 289,341 are registered republican, with 276,827 independent), she is not considered to be engaged in campaign activity.
We also note that it’s completely fine to have a different address than the address on your license. This question has also crossed our news desk. Here’s the official answer from election officials:
“The address on the driver license does not need to match the address in the voter registration record. If you have moved and haven’t changed your driver license to reflect your new address, that’s okay. What is important is that you vote in the precinct where you currently live, no matter what your driver license says.”
