Americans went to the polls on Tuesday Nov 5 against a backdrop of misinformation. Amid this, a video has recently emerged on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) showing a man wearing a MAGA (Make America Great Again) batch and a lady wearing a MAGA shirt being shunned away by a polling worker in the polling booth. Users are sharing this video and expressing remorse over this instance.
An account with the name DramaAlert posted this video on X and wrote: “Poll worker REFUSES to let Woman vote for wearing a MAGA hat”
Fact Check
In the probe, the DFRAC team found that voting while wearing party attire or any political symbols is illegal in 21 states of the US. We found reports from USAToday, Fox News, and The Economic Times. According to these reports, 21 states have statutes banning political apparel at the polls, known as electioneering, which includes any type of election-related clothing.
Additionally, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont all have laws prohibiting electioneering apparel.
Conclusion
It is clear from DFRAC’s fact-check that it is prohibited in 21 states of US, to vote while wearing party apparel or any political symbols.
Analysis: Misleading
Graphic design by Megha Bajaj