Thanks for filling in the N feet. A Google search for
"150 feet" massachusetts election
finds a document entitled ELECTION DAY LEGAL SUMMARY from the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office. Unfortuantely it's an MS Word document, but I'll quote the relevant section here:
Activities in the Polling Location
On Election Day, certain activities are prohibited within the polling location and within 150 feet of the polling place. General Law chapter 54, section 65 prohibits within 150 feet of a polling location, among other things, the posting, exhibition, circulation, or distribution of material--including pasters, stickers, posters, cards, handbills, placards, pictures or circulars--intended to influence the action of the voter. G. L. 54, § 65 (2002 ed.). Consistent with the activities restricted by statute, the implementing regulations prohibit the solicitation of votes for or against, or any other form of promotion or opposition of, any person or political party or position on a ballot question, to be voted on at the current election. 950 C.M.R. § 54.04(22)(d). Accordingly, a person standing within 150 feet of a polling location, including observers in the polling location, may not: hold any campaign sign; hand any person literature intended to influence the voter’s action at the polls; wear any campaign buttons or identifying signage; solicit a person’s vote for or against a candidate or question on the ballot; or, distribute stickers. Circulators of nomination papers, initiative and referenda petitions are also restricted from soliciting signatures within 150 feet of a building entrance door to a polling place. G. L. c. 54, § 65 (2002 ed.). This is true even where the nomination papers, initiative petition or referendum have nothing to do with the current election.
From looking just at this and not at the actual laws being cited, the activities of both Berman and the "Draft Gore" folks seem to fall into a legal gray area. The petition that the "Draft Gore" people are circulating is not a formal nomination paper, nor is it an initiative or referendum.
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electioneering at polling places
Date: 2007-09-26 05:52 pm (UTC)Thanks for filling in the N feet. A Google search for
finds a document entitled ELECTION DAY LEGAL SUMMARY from the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office. Unfortuantely it's an MS Word document, but I'll quote the relevant section here:
From looking just at this and not at the actual laws being cited, the activities of both Berman and the "Draft Gore" folks seem to fall into a legal gray area. The petition that the "Draft Gore" people are circulating is not a formal nomination paper, nor is it an initiative or referendum.