It's the law in Virginia, and one not a lot of people seem to know about. On Election Day,  the Commonwealth has a dress code. That means when you head to the polls, you have to keep the campaign shirts, hats, and buttons at home.

This law isn't new to this election, but a lot of voters we talked to weren't even aware of it.   

 

Ejaye Haley has never voted before. The Liberty University (web) student works part-time at Barack Obama (web|news|bio) 's Lynchburg Headquarters. He just heard about the dress-code law.

Ejaye Haley, Obama Supporter - "I'm pretty sure that a lot of people aren't aware of that rule. I didn't know about it and I'm sure a lot of younger voters don't either."

Virginia law doesn't allow anyone to campaign for, or influence someone's vote, within 40 feet of a polling place. So when you get within the length of this ribbon, officials say the buttons, the stickers, have to come off.

Greg Beasley, Amherst County General Resistrar "We've had people have to turn their t-shirts inside out that have a candidate's t-shirt on or take their cap off or what have you."

Greg Beasley has served as Amherst County's General Registrar for seven years, and has never had problems with people violating this law. But with so many first time voters looking to cast ballots in this year's big election, Beasley wants everyone to know the rules so voting runs smoothly.

Beasley - "I can understand why it's done. Because it can influence people and cause problems in the polling place."

If you're wearing a button or a sticker on November 4th, you won't lose your chance to vote, but you'll have to take it off. So you may want to think twice before buying that new election-day t-shirt.

Alex Tompkins, Republican Supporter - "It makes sense that you shouldn't walk into a polling place advertising who you're going to vote for. They've got curtains for a reason... keep your vote private."

 

Beasley wants to stress  this law isn't discriminating against a particular candidate or party, it's just the law in Virginia. He wants everyone to follow the rules, because if you don't, it's going to make the lines at polling places run a lot slower.

Email To A Friend