Is it legal to for candidates or campaign volunteers to stand outside a polling place? Sure, as long as they're not campaigning.
Michigan law says campaigning within 100 feet of any building entrance used by voters to enter a polling place is a misdemeanor. Election officials and law enforcement can remove people, who break the rules, from the site.
The law prohibits wearing or bringing campaign-related clothes or accessories, candidate or election-related signage, or partisan materials within 100 feet of the entrance to a polling place. Materials include pamphlets, fliers, stickers, buttons, and petitions for a candidate or ballot issue.
It's also illegal to try influencing how
people vote at a polling place. This is called voter intimidation.
According to michigan.gov, acts of voter intimidation can include:
- People who aren't poll workers or election administrators asking for personal documentation.
- Photographing or videotaping voters at an early voting site, a polling place, a clerk’s office, or a ballot drop box.
- Disseminating false or misleading election information.
- Blocking the entrance to a polling place, early voting site, clerk’s office, or ballot drop box.
- Directly questioning voters.
Voter intimidation is a felony and can be punished with a $1,000 fine or up to 5 years in prison, or both. People who witness or experience voter intimidation should report it to an election official at their polling place.
Tristan McFolley is a Detroit Free Press intern. Reach him at tmcfolley@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Can candidates or volunteers stand outside polls on Election Day?
