STEUBENVILLE, Ohio ( WTRF ) — For many years, the state of Ohio has prohibited voters from wearing clothing or accessories that endorsed their particular candidate while casting their ballots at the polls.
However, Secretary of State Frank LaRose released guidance to county election officials on Friday that stated voters are permitted to wear clothing with slogans such as “Make America Great Again” or “We’re Not Going Back” to the polls.
In previous elections, voters were asked to remove their hats or turn their shirts inside out if they were not turned away altogether.
During the 2020 presidential elections, LaRose suggested that it would be impossible to enforce the rule and that he didn’t want poll workers to give insistent voters “the attention they are looking for by creating a bigger stir than is necessary.”
The guidance states that as long as clothing or accessories contain “Slogans that can be associated with a political party, candidate or ballot question or issue, but do not display the name of the political party, candidate, or ballot question or issue are not prohibited.”