Tea Party activist sues election board in Ohio

[Joanne98]

Source: AP

CINCINNATI (AP) — A Tea Party activist in southwest Ohio is suing a union and an election board after she says she was barred from protesting outside a polling place during the primary election in May.



A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on Monday.



Tea Party activist Katherine Dirr says she was told to leave a polling place at a union hall after she put up a "Stop Obama Care" sign in May, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.



Dirr and the Liberty Township Tea Party are suing the Butler County Board of Elections, Local 648 of the International Electrical Workers and some individual union and elections board officials.



They're asking a U.S. District Court judge for the legal right to hand out pamphlets, carry signs and circulate petitions at voting locations, as long as it's done at least 100 feet from the front door like Ohio law requires.



Read more: http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/120750/Tea-Party-activist-sues-election-board-in-Ohio-.html?isap=1&nav=5018

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If they get the right to harrass and threaten people at the polls, we should get the right to break their noses when they do!

[SemperEadem]

1. a frivolous lawsuit

did she put her sign up 100 feet from the polling place or was she trying to go inside or get closer than 100 feet?

I'll bet she doesn't know how to measure 100 feet.

See, that's what happens when teachers are on your boogeyman hitlist.

The suit accuses union members of ousting Dirr from their property and claims that elections officials supported the union's position.
Roger Gates, attorney for the Butler County Board of Elections in Hamilton, said the board had nothing to do with the decision to expel Dirr from the property. The board controls only the polling place and the area 100 feet around it, he said.
"Our position is it's their property. They can do what they want," Gates said.
The board would not be allowed to interfere with voters or intimidate them outside the 100-foot line, Gates said, but it has no control over protests, rallies or other electioneering.

[Scruffy1]

2. Another silly law suit-brought to you by those

who buy the Republican bullshit about "frivolous" lawsuits.

[rucky]

5. if they count distance the way they count crowds at their rallies...

I'm betting she was 10 feet away and thought it was 100.

[Enthusiast]

3. Brown shirts.....nt

[liberal N proud]

4. Question - If these people are so against government waste...

Then why are they wasting time and money on stupid lawsuits?

Tea bagger = hypocrite

[nyy1998]

6. I thought you were never suppose to politik in a polling place

[joeglow3]

7. What constitutes a "polling place?"

We vote in our neighborhood school. Where we vote in the school is physically 100 feet from the schools property line. However, there are parts of the school that literally sit on the property line, with houses 10 feet away. Can these laws prohibit landowners from putting signs in their own yard or handing out items?

Nothing to do with the above mentioned case, but I am curious.

[DiverDave]

8. I once voted in a guys GARAGE

True story, it was a legal voting place.
It was in LaHabra Ca.

[Maeve]

10. Ohio legal requirements

No campaigning within 100 feet of the polling location entrance, so yes, that can mean having to ask that signs be taken down while the polls are open. No political t-shirts (please cover it or turn it inside out), no buttons, pins, hats, stickers, newspapers or magazines with political covers, no political discussions.

For the curious, I'm pulling the info from my local Precinct Election Officials' Training Manual.

[donco6]

9. If they maintain the distance, they'll probably be allowed to do it.

At least, that's what they've always told us here (we're a polling place).

[petronius]

11. I thought right-wingers were supposed to be such staunch defenders of private

property rights? :sarcasm:

She's perfectly free to do all the politicking she wants on public property more than 100' from the polls - what makes her think she's entitled to use any of the union hall's property for here own purposes?

The union is freely providing a public service - ceding control of the poll space and 100' bubble around it to the elections board - the rest of the property is theirs to do with as they wish.