Forced to Remove NRA Cap to Vote

Snyper said:
It's plain English, and it's not only about "campaign" material, or they could have just ended the sentence there.
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By your interpretation nobody in that state can enter any polling place wearing any shirt, jacket or hat that has anything written on it, nor can they carry the morning newspaper. Readers Digest, or even a comic book.

Sorry, I don't think that's what the law intends, and I don't think that's what the law says. But ... that's why we have courts, and judges (and appeals courts, and appeals judges).
 
I say it's all a violation of our 1st amendment rights. Let it all in. If people want to wear pro-Republican shirts, pro-Democrat shirts, buttons, etc while voting, I see absolutely no reason to prohibit this. Yes, campaign workers need to keep their distance. Certainly, there seems to be no problem with the Black Panther party wearing their uniforms, hats etc. at polling places.
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No. Thats an excellent way to start intimidating voters. Do you want thirty guys with AFL-CIO shirts intimidating the registrars and everyone else. Grandma don't play that. :eek:
 
You are right, what the law intends is to exclude any sort of political textual material, which would include NRA hats. The law is written vaguely enough such that when folks want to try to make silly distinctions (e.g., "The NRA isn't political") then the polling folks can just exclude the material.
 
The word "nor" tells you the subject changed from the first clause to something else.

"Any other material" means just that
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Read it again. The "any other written or printed matter of any kind" is BEFORE the word "nor". It's the last item in the first list of campaign paraphernalia.
 
Wearing a hat that says "NRA" is not displaying campaign written or printed matter of any kind. "NRA" is not a campaign statement. Neither would a shirt that said "Proud to be a Democrat", although that one is getting close.
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Sure they are.
 
Do you want thirty guys with AFL-CIO shirts intimidating the registrars and everyone else.
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It already happens - ref. Black Panthers at polling places. 30 guys wearing any form of uniform or shirt can be intimidating. What if 30 people came in wearing "Pink Pistols" T-shirts?
 
I've never thought the NRA was political, that's what the ILA is for, by law.

If they complain about your NRA hat, just tell them NRA stands for "Not Really an Anarchist"....
:D

Or Not Really Awake

Or the National Recovery Act (FDR administration)

the list can go on....
 
The lobby and campaign wing of the NRA is a single issue organization, and does NOT align with the republican party. There just happen to be a lot more 2nd amendment people running as republicans. The NRA has a grading system for each candidate, and they will give D or F ratings to anti gun republicans as much as they will support pro gun democrats with an A+ rating.

4 years ago the NRA endorsed Ohio's democrat governor Ted Strickland (A+ rating) over the republican challenger John Kasich because of his strong pro gun record. Kasich's record got him a C+ rating. Kasih won because unlike the NRA, people are not usually single issue voters.

NRA supported far left liberal democrat John Dingell for years based strictly the gun issue.

The NRA is a club with a lobbying wing. So are both AMA American Motorcycle or Medical Association. The American Bar association. AARP. UAW. MADD.....


Next time just wear your Smith & Wesson hat.
 
Read it again. The "any other written or printed matter of any kind" is BEFORE the word "nor". It's the last item in the first list of campaign paraphernalia.
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You're also overlooking some critical words:

(a) No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign literature, newspaper, booklet, pamphlet, card, sign, paraphernalia, or any other written or printed matter of any kind, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition or conduct any exit poll or public opinion poll with voters on any day in which ballots are being cast:
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The "intention" may have meant only "campaign" material, but it SAYS "any OTHER matter" and "of any kind"

That pretty much leaves it to the discretion of the poll workers
 
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By your interpretation nobody in that state can enter any polling place wearing any shirt, jacket or hat that has anything written on it, nor can they carry the morning newspaper. Readers Digest, or even a comic book.
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Now you're getting it
 
What Tom Servo said. It's simply wrong, as a matter of law - nothing to do with politics.... BUT, you got $10,000 to hire a lawyer that will go to the courthouse the same day and get a judge's temporary emergency R.O. to allow this to happen? Yeah, me neither.... so that worker is 99/100ths of the law on that day.
 
I'd still like to know why anybody would wear a hat inside the polling place. My mama taught me to take my hat off when I went inside. That would make this whole issue moot.
 
Well, I am sure we will see that if the poll folks were in error by having the guy remove his NRA cap, then the NRA will be all over it with a followup as they already have been in calling foul. If there is no foul on the part if the poll folks, I am sure the NRA will be silent on the matter or will claim the law is somehow unjust.
 
Respectfully, I still think you are missing it. I agree with zxcvbob. The entire list of prohibited materials is modified by the leading adjective "campaign."
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It SPECIFIES "newspapers" are prohibited

The commas mean they are talking about different things
These are all prohibited and different

nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign literature, newspaper, booklet, pamphlet, card, sign, paraphernalia, or any other written or printed matter of any kind
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If all they meant was "campaign literature", they could have ended the sentence there.

But they didn't

It's a list of what you cannot "distribute or display"

Each item is seperate

It's very plain English
 
Snyper said:
It's very plain English
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Apparently it's not as plain as you want to make it out to be, or we wouldn't have been discussing what the law actually means for nearly a week. I happen to think it's plain English, too -- but I also don't think it says what you think it says. Dunno what your qualifications are, but I was an English minor in college, I'm a published author, and a professional editor and proof reader.

So I'd have to conclude that, no, it isn't "plain" English.
 
DNS said:
Plain English does not mean that all readers will understand what is written, but that is certainly a significant goal of the movement for Plain English. Plain English isn't defined by the result, but by the attempt.
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From the descriptions in your links, I don't thing "plain English" is defined by the attempt so much as by the fact.

"Plain English is clear, straightforward expression, using only as many words as are necessary. It is language that avoids obscurity, inflated vocabulary and convoluted sentence construction. It is not baby talk, nor is it a simplified version of the English language. Writers of plain English let their audience concentrate on the message instead of being distracted by complicated language. They make sure that their audience understands the message easily."
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In general, any sentence that includes more than three or maybe four commas, with no colons or semi-colons, is almost certain to NOT be clear, for exactly the reason this law is not clear: it's difficult to figure out what modifies what.

One would hope that the people who write laws attempt to make the intent of the law clear, yet every year laws are tossed out by the courts as being "unconstitutionally vague." So it takes more than just an attempt to be able to (properly) classify something as "plain English."

{Edited to add}

http://johngarger.com/articles/writing/the-top-3-misused-commas-in-scholarly-writing

As a copy editor I can tell you that the most misused punctuation in scholarly writing is the comma. The comma is used in so many cases in English that it is difficult to keep them straight. Coupled with the fact that most scholarly writers place pauses in their writing much like they place pauses in speech, the comma is often misused, misapplied, or ignored.
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http://www.oxbridgeediting.co.uk/blog/funny-grammar-mistakes-commas-619/

What commas certainly do, whether by their presence or their absence, is to powerfully change the meaning of a sentence. ...

In lists, commas often separate different items from one another – a simple enough concept. However, accidentally missing out a comma will automatically having the effect of making the two consecutive terms it should separate seem like one item in the list,...
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https://suite.io/cynthia-jones-shoeman/4mwt29e

Students might ask, "Can there be too much of a good thing?" In the case of commas, most instructors will resoundingly cry, "Yes!" Here are three instances of when commas are unnecessarily used.
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