Bullies at the Ballot Box - Demos

elates to the conducting of an election from a
polling place, and it is illegal to intimidate an election
officer or otherwise interfere with the conduct of an
election. 379 Ohio law is also explicit that no person may
“loiter” or “congregate” “within the area between the
polling place and the small flags” that officials place
100 feet from the polling place. 380 Finally, in Ohio is
illegal to “hinder or delay an elector in reaching or
leaving” the polling place.” 381
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania law prohibits any manner of intimidation
or coercion in order to induce or compel persons
to vote or refrain from voting at any election. 382
Pennsylvania’s anti-intimidation statute specifically
prohibits restraining, threatening, or using any force
that interferes with any person’s efforts to cast a
ballot. 383 The law also makes it illegal to use any
fraudulent device that interferes with voters or induces
a voter to give his or her vote for or against any
particular person at any election. 384 Any individual or
corporation, whether for profit or not for profit, who
violates these provisions faces a fine of up to $5000
and up to two years of imprisonment. 385
texas
Texas law prohibits a person from indicating to a voter
in a polling place “by word, sign, or gesture how the
person desires the voter to vote or not vote.” 386 It is
a misdemeanor in Texas to loiter or electioneer for
or against any candidate, measure, or political party
during the voting period within 100 of an outside
door. 387 It is also a misdemeanor for a person not
engaged in activities specifically permitted by the
Election Code to be in the polling place “from the time
the presiding judge arrives there on Election Day to
make the preliminary arrangements until the precinct
returns have been certified and the election records
have been assembled for distribution following the
election.” 388
virginia
Virginia makes it a crime for any person (i) to loiter
or congregate within 40 feet of any entrance of any
polling place; (ii) within such distance to give, tender,
30 • Bullies at the Ballot Box | September 2012
or exhibit any ballot, ticket, or other campaign
material to any person or to solicit or in any manner
attempt to influence any person in casting his vote; or
(iii) to hinder or delay a qualified voter in entering or
leaving a polling place. 389 Virginia law further prohibits
attempts to influence a person’s vote by “threats,
bribery, or other means in violation of the election
laws.” 390 It is a misdemeanor for any person to hinder
or delay a qualified voter or election officer, to give
a ballot, ticket, or other campaign material to any
person, to solicit or influence any person in casting his
vote, or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of the
election. 391
reCommendatIonS related to
State Voter IntImIdatIon laWS
Many state laws discussed above are clearly applicable
to a wide range of intimidation tactics, including “True
the Vote”-like tactics of “hovering” around voters
and disrupting voting lines snaking around outside
of polling places. 392 There are, however, a number
of things that can be done to provide even more
protection from harassment masquerading as citizen
law enforcement. We recommend that legislators take
steps to provide more clarity with regard to rules
relating to voter intimidation outside of the polling
place. Many of the surveyed laws are broadly drafted,
rendering their application to certain behaviors
ambiguous.
We might consider analogizing these practices
to electioneering. Electioneering generally involves
handing out campaign materials, displaying signs,
and otherwise advocating for the support or defeat
of a candidate by using the candidate’s name. All ten
states surveyed for this report have laws prohibiting
electioneering within specific distances of polling places
on Election Day because the states believe that some
solicitation-free zones are necessary to protect voters
from confusion and undue influence and to preserve
the integrity and dignity of the election process. 393
These rules are consistently upheld by the courts,
including when the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee
electioneering law that prohibited electioneering within
one hundred feet of a polling place. 394
Another analogy to consider are the laws that