i texted my dad and told him i’m terrified. he called me and said this:
“I know you’re scared. I know you feel isolated and helpless. But you aren’t alone. You have me. You have our family. You have your friends and your readers and millions of other Americans who are going to scream down the mountains with you. I know a lot of queer people grew up with just them against the world, but that isn’t how it is anymore. Even if he wins, you’ll be alright, because you aren’t alone.”
LGBTQ+, POC, and women are looking at the electoral map now and are seeing millions of people who at best don’t care about them at all. Regardless of who wins, this is a loss for this country.
If Trump wins tonight do NOT harm yourself or attempt suicide. If you don’t want him to win you are already a compassionate person. No matter the results tonight we NEED YOU to fight for equality and change. Please call a friend or hotline if you’re thinking about harming yourself. You are loved. I am on your side. The world needs you to be here in the morning.
Campaigning is not allowed inside polling places, or a certain distance from them. Once you are inside your polling place, no one is allowed to try to influence your vote — and you’re not allowed to try to influence anyone else’s vote inside the polling place either. This is a really strict rule, and it probably means that you won’t be allowed to wear a shirt or button with your candidate’s name/logo on it inside the polls.
The rules against campaigning inside a polling place are really strict in order to protect voters from intimidation. Voting is private, polls are private places, and there are a lot of rules and laws in place to protect them. You also can’t do things like pass out flyers, hold up signs, or answer questions about candidates inside the polls. Election judges err on the side of caution when deciding what counts as campaigning. Generally speaking, anything with a candidate or party’s name visible is likely to be seen as campaigning — including a button or t-shirt that you are wearing. (The same may go for logos)
Since people wear election shirts/buttons as a way to campaign for their candidates, they’re generally not allowed inside the polls. So, if you wear a candidate shirt/button to the polls on election day, you will most likely be asked to take it off or cover it up. If you’re planning to wear a pin, you can put it in your pocket or pin it to the inside of your shirt while you’re inside the polls. If you’re planning to wear a campaign t-shirt, bring something with you to cover it up with.
tl;dr Campaigning is not allowed inside polling places. Wearing a t-shirt with a candidate’s name or party’s name visible is likely to be considered campaigning, just like if you were holding up a sign for your candidate. If you’re planning to wear a campaign t-shirt or button on election day, be prepared to take it off or cover it up while you are actually voting.
IMPORTANT
Do not go to vote wearing a T shirt like this and if you are wearing any badges or stickers like this take them off before going into the polling place
Here in Texas I’ve already seen polling places with Republican candidates yard signs and people in line wearing shirts supporting Republican candidates (or bashing non-republicans) weren’t turned away. Conservatives aren’t playing by the rules in many states, but they’ll still do everything they can to prevent you from casting your ballot.
Election Protection (nonpartisan voting rights organization led by lawyers) and the Department of Justice both want to hear about law violations like this.
The Election Protection Hotline can be reached at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), (Spanish/English: 888-Ve-Y-Vota 888-839-8682), (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bengali, Urdu, Hindi Tagalog, or English: 888-API-VOTE), (Arabic/English: 844-418-1682)
You can report possible violations of voting rights laws to the Department of Justice in various ways:
reckless & terribly gay 