Image Credit: Facebook & Paul Kang / Google Maps
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
On August 1st, Election Day, some Williamson County voters who went to vote were turned away from voting initially, because of their attire.
Randy Tate and Emma Holmes, both of Franklin, went to the designated voting center of their choice, Pearre Creek Elementary School, to cast their votes for their chosen candidates.
As Holmes explains, when she entered the polling location she noticed Tate, who had already been sequestered by polling location managers and told to flip his t-shirt inside out, which was a nostalgic nod to campaigns of years past, featuring the message, Reagan/ Bush 88’.
Holmes attempted to enter the location and vote but was told that her t-shirt, emblazoned with one line from the lyrics of Tom Petty’s classic hit “Free-Falling”, “Loves Jesus, And America Too”, was inappropriate and illegal attire because it was considered “campaigning” and needed to be turned inside out if she wanted to be able to vote.
As Holmes related, the supervisor of the polling location said to her, “Oh, your shirt, you can’t wear that here to vote”. Holmes taken aback, responded, “Me? This shirt? Why?” The response Holmes given by a 15-year Elections Commission veteran was “because it’s political campaigning”.
Holmes very quickly asked, “For who? It says Jesus and America. Who am I campaigning for?”
Holmes proceeded to try and explain to the polling supervisor that she purchased the shirt for the Fourth of July holiday and decided to be patriotic as she exercised her right as an American to be able to cast her vote in a democratic process for her chosen candidate.
The unnamed poll supervisor insisted on adherence to the “that’s political campaigning you can’t wear that” policy, and Holmes and Tate were both forced to turn their shirts inside out in order to cast their votes that day.
A meeting at the Williamson County Elections commission last week, that had the last minute item to address the incident added to the agenda, evoked an explanation from Donna Choate, an employee of the Elections Commission in defense of the poll supervisor in question, stating that the poll worker was “being protective and was afraid”… based on several witness statements who were at the meeting.
What the poll worker was afraid of, was never made clear to those who attended the meeting.
But what does the law actually say?
According to Williamson County ordinances pertaining to the issue the rule is thus, which generally is a reflection of TCA code § 2-2-117:
“On Election Day and during early voting, there is a one hundred (100) foot campaign-free zone outside the entrance to the polling place. The boundary is measured from the entrances of the polling place; however, it may not exceed the property line of the polling place. Campaigning, distribution of campaign materials, or the wearing of articles of clothing of a political nature that are in support or in opposition to a candidate or issue (caps, t-shirts, hats, or buttons) are not allowed in this area as well. The officer of elections at the Election Day polling place or any member of the staff of the election commission at an early voting site is responsible for the enforcement of this provision of the statute.”
The Tennessee Conservative reached out to Elections Commission Chair Jonathan Duda on the issue, which went so viral that it warranted a special meeting this past week, and he replied:
“We at the Williamson County Election Commission made a mistake. This incident should not have occurred, and I apologize to these voters for what they experienced while voting. Tennessee Law that prohibits campaign materials inside and within 100 feet of polling locations is very specific in that it applies to candidates and questions on the ballot. We plan to address this issue with additional training for our nearly 300 poll workers that operate our elections to ensure that this error will not happen again.”
TTC posed the question to Duda about the person who was running the site and whether they had enough experience to understand the law, Duda responded, “Poll workers are temporary employees of the Election Commission appointed by the Commission. Once the election is over, their appointment ends. This individual was a very experienced officer of elections who has worked elections for Williamson County in various capacities for over 15 years.”
Chris Hand of 99.7 in Nashville spoke on air to Secretary of State Tre Hargett about the situation in Williamson County and whether there would be any consequences for the individual who initially violated these citizens right to free speech and access to their vote, essentially denying them access to their vote, and Hargett stated that he would leave it to the Elections Commission in Williamson County to make that determination.
TTC posed the question to Duda, who did not directly respond to that specific question only providing a response about additional training for those who work the polls during the elections to keep the issue from being repeated.
Since the story emerged via social media, and podcast, TTC has been contacted by various sources who were present in two voting centers in Williamson County and witnessed similar actions against other voters coming in to cast their ballots.
The sources, who wished to remain anonymous, related stories of voters who attempted to vote wearing apparel (shirts, hats) with MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogans on them. They were made to either remove the item or turn it inside out in order to get access to their ballot in order to vote.
Donald Trump was not on the ballot for this most recent election, and therefore anything with a slogan or message related to him, should have been allowed as it does not break the laws as they are written.
The issues that were related to TTC, seemed to occur mainly at the Pearre Creek Elementary location or the main Elections Commission location at 405 Downs Blvd, Franklin, TN 37064.
The issues occurred during both early voting and on Election Day.
If any other citizens who voted at any of the other voting centers in Williamson County, had a similar experience, you are encouraged to report it to the Williamson County Elections Commission via either phone or email.
Citizens are also always welcome to send their experiences to TTC via email at this email address.
With assurances from both the chair of the WCEC, and Tre Hargett Tennessee Secretary of State that this issue will never make another appearance in Tennessee, Tennesseans especially those who reside in Williamson County, are hopeful that this will indeed be the case.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is an escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers, she has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. An outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty, Kelly also has a YouTube channel @Tennessee_Truth_Teller and is planning on expanding out to other channels soon. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
11 Responses
Kelly
Thanks
Yup, lucifer’s dimmercraps.
Your county election commission is selected for you by the State Election Commission. The State Election Commission is selected for you by the General Assembly – currently a long-time Republican supermajority, and the State Election Commission has 4 “Republican” members and 3 “Democrat” members. Those 7 people appointed your county commissioners. Obviously they have near zero chance of knowing all those people they “appoint”. So who tells them whom to appoint?
We gotta stop taking their crap, I walked into a voting room wearing an Anti-Obama shirt back in CA!!!! It wasn’t until I was walking out someone working there said, that was not OK, but no major stink came from it. Everything has just become ridiculously insane under their control and they feel they get to exert what little power they are given to be a-holes to the conservatives that don’t turn their back on God like they clearly have. Time to tell these wanna be tyrants to pound sand!!!! Nothing worse than a Liberal on a power trip.
So far, I have been able to wear my official voting T-Shirt which declares “Another Member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy” when I vote over a number of years in the Brentwood Public Library voting center without incident. I will report back to all of you if this changes.
Sometimes I seriously question if this is still America!
These employees should be FIRED and pay huge damages and jail time.
The liberal cancer is invading our great red state! Stop it asap or become california 2.0
Thank you Kelly! As one of those present at the Williamson County Election Committee meeting, I STRONGLY encourage Williamson county Residents to start showing up at these meetings.
It’s imperative to be present- at really all of our local board meetings.
Sadly, it took this incident (for me) to realize to much us going on in our county (and really country) to be too busy to listen and involved when necessary.
Every elected and appointed official works for US, the American people, and as long as we sit silently by, to wrapped up in our day to day schedules, I guarantee you, you will not be fairly represented.
This T-shirt incident along with MAGA hats being removed was the perfect example.
This was not an incident related to lack of education on the part of election committee members and workers. This was fear-related control being demonstrated to the conservative party.
Donna stated that herself in the committee meeting.
“Fear” prompted an unconstitutional response and this has got to stop.
The demoncrats shouldn’t fear the MAGA Republicans, they should fear GOD!
Gotta wonder whether any BLM or “Save Democracy” apparel wearers were free to enter voting areas while these folks were intimidated or denied their right to vote. That would demonstrate the hypocrisy of these election “workers.”
Their tactic is intimidation, until and even after being called out for it, because it incrementally expands their control over every remaining vestige of free and fair elections and representative government in this country. That is how we got to this point, in even a red state like Tennessee, and is merely a foreshadow of what is to come if a Harris presidency is forced upon us for the next eight years. There won’t be another fair national (or local) election in my lifetime, absent an all-out civil war.