Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 23, 2010

Forrest Gump quote… “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Reported by KHOU News — Houston woman’s Obama T-shirt serves as voting ‘dress code’ reminder:

A voter who went to the polls Thursday at an early voting location south of the Texas Medical Center served as this mid-term election’s reminder to keep your politically themed clothing at home.

“This is ridiculous,” Tamika Francis told 11 News as she stood outside the Fiesta grocery store at Main and Kirby, where she had just been denied the right to vote.

“That’s not going to roll with me. Is it going to roll with you?” she asked her mom, who had traveled to the polling location with her.

The problem is that Francis was wearing a 2008 Obama election shirt. It has photos of the first family during the campaign accompanied by the phrase “Our President Obama.” The presiding elections judge told her she could not vote, nor could she help her disabled mother vote, until she either turned the shirt inside out or covered it up to hide the message and photos.

“He is not a candidate in the Texas election,” Francis said. “So why are you denying me the right to vote?”

Her mother agreed.

“And to say a person cannot vote because they have a T-shirt with the President of the United States on that T-shirt, that is not right,” Sandra Lucas Francis said.

“I said let me see in writing where it says I cannot wear this shirt,” Tamika Francis added.

“It’s titled Electioneering Prohibited,” said Hector de Leon, spokesman for the Harris County Clerk as he read Texas Election code 85.036. The code, dating back to 1985, stipulates that “during the time of an early voting polling place is open for the conduct of early voting, a person may not electioneer for or against any candidate, measure, or political party in or within 100 feet of an outside door through which a voter may enter the building or structure in which the early voting polling place is located.”

Oops. Tough break, Tamika.

It continues…

Likenesses of President Obama fall within those prohibitions, given that he is the most visible leader of – and one of the most active campaigners for – the Democratic Party.

“When you are actually going into a poll that has his picture on it you’re essentially promoting a party,” said de Leon.

And this week there have been similar reports from Dallas and Waco, where voters wearing Tea Party shirts or buttons are also being turned away until they remove their party paraphernalia.

Tamika Francis, meanwhile, doesn’t yet fully accept the explanation, but said she is sure of one thing.

“I’m not going to give up. I’m going to vote,” she said.

Elections organizers said her experience should serve as a reminder to everyone, whichever political party, candidate, or cause they support that any and all political clothing, buttons, or other election-themed clothing must be left at home.

“I’m not going to give up. I’m going to vote,” she said.

Priceless… because going through your closet and valiantly choosing to wear a shirt without Dear Leader’s grinning face splashed across it so you can legally vote is just like, uh, just like overcoming oppression or something.

Hilarious.

From Gateway Pundit, Yes, Tamika, Election Laws Do Apply To You, Too:

No she can’t!

A shocked and horrified Tamika Francis discovers that election laws actually apply to her.

Good grief! Where’s Eric Holder? This isn’t supposed to happen. Well, not to Obama supporters anyway.

I can see November from my house.

Additional political & election reading:
RedState: Elections Have Consequences
AOL Politics Daily: House Republicans Get Cozier With Tea Party
Motor City Times: Now Is Not The Time For Conservative To Get Cocky
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Las Vegas Hits New Unemployment High: Now at 15 Percent… Thank You, Mr. President & Harry Reid and Socialism’s Grip: We Must Continue to Loosen & Vanquish Its Liberty-Robbing, Freedom-Killing Clawlike Fingers from the Neck of America (video) and Heaven Help Us: Treas. Sec. Timothy Geithner Plans to Work on Balancing World Economy (video) and Oh, What a Tangled Web… Scandal in New Jersey: NJ-03 Democrats & Rep John Adler Created Fake Tea Party Candidate to Split GOP Congress Vote and Another Vomit-Worthy Analogy: Dingy Harry Reid Claims Poor Barack Obama Is Like a “Trapped Chilean Miner” and Shameless Dem Election “Hail Mary”: Obama, Reid, & Pelosi Pushing Congress to Give Senior Citizen Voters $250 for Voting, Plus Oct. Unemployment at 10% and Bad News for America’s Families: Corn Prices Rising, Meat Prices Will Jump Soon, “Shovel-Ready” Is an Obama Lie… Thank You, Mr. President & NYT’s David Brooks (video) and ATROCITY: Democrats All… Boxer, Grijalva, Waxman, & Kucinich Approved 2004 Code Pink Trip to Iraq to Give Terrorists $600,000 to Murder American Soldiers
Gateway Pundit: It’s Official… Obama Has Now Borrowed $3 Trillion and Liar in Chief… Obama Argued That Premium Costs Would Go Down 14% – Instead, They Will Go Up 14% and Sarah Palin: The GOP Is Through If It Doesn’t Embrace Tea Party Message (Video) and Agreed. Sarah Palin: “Nobody Tell Barack Obama What Number Comes After a Trillion” (Video) and Obama Admission: 15 Senate Seats Are Up for Grabs and Change. Top 400 Charities See Billions Less in Donations and Wow. Obama’s Lost It- One Quarter of Supporters Defect and Unbelievable!… Pelosi’s Website Claims She “Cut Bush Deficit By More Than Half”
Half-Baked Sourdough: They Just Can’t Help Themselves
Michelle Malkin: Biden booed in Philly, shunned in Wisconsin and White House strategy: Export jobs. Import debt. Play America First card. Repeat.

Categories: Government, Law & Constitution, Social and Political Climate, Videos, Audio Files
Tags: 2010 election, Barack Obama, election, electioneering, Forrest Gump, Houston, law, November election, Obama, Obama shirt, Pres. Obama, Texas, video, vote