Passive electioneering

Passive electioneering is the act of wearing campaign paraphernalia or carrying signs to a polling place with the intent of influencing voters. Across the United States laws vary relating to passive electioneering. In the fall of 2008, officials in Virginia moved to ban the wearing of campaign paraphernalia. New York has a similar law in place.

In 2008, internet political organizers were cautioning voters not to wear campaign T-shirts at the polls.

At least seven states, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, and Kansas prohibit wearing campaign buttons, stickers and badges inside polling places. Efforts to enforce a similar ban are headed to court in Pennsylvania. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the ban violates the First Amendment's right to free speech.