postman
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- Feb 23, 2017
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The Georgia law says
(a) No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition, nor shall any person, other than election officials discharging their duties, establish or set up any tables or booths on any day in which ballots are being cast:
(3) Within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place.
Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191 (1992) only upheld extending that exclusion zone to within 100 feet
of a polling place. [Tennessee Code §§ 2-7-111(b) preventing campaigning - through verbal speech, signs, pamphlets, or other materials - within 100 feet (30 m) of a polling place.]
They allowed but questioned that distance.
Blackmun wrote in his opinion that "We simply do not view the question whether the 100-foot boundary line could be somewhat tighter as a question of constitutional dimension...The state of Tennessee has decided that these last 15 seconds before its citizens enter the polling place should be their own, as free from interference as possible. We do not find that this is an unconstitutional choice."
If the lines in Georgia extend beyond the 100 feet allowed under Burson, then that part of the law would be a 1st amendment violation and unconstitutional.
Opinions?
(a) No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition, nor shall any person, other than election officials discharging their duties, establish or set up any tables or booths on any day in which ballots are being cast:
(3) Within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place.
Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191 (1992) only upheld extending that exclusion zone to within 100 feet
of a polling place. [Tennessee Code §§ 2-7-111(b) preventing campaigning - through verbal speech, signs, pamphlets, or other materials - within 100 feet (30 m) of a polling place.]
They allowed but questioned that distance.
Blackmun wrote in his opinion that "We simply do not view the question whether the 100-foot boundary line could be somewhat tighter as a question of constitutional dimension...The state of Tennessee has decided that these last 15 seconds before its citizens enter the polling place should be their own, as free from interference as possible. We do not find that this is an unconstitutional choice."
If the lines in Georgia extend beyond the 100 feet allowed under Burson, then that part of the law would be a 1st amendment violation and unconstitutional.
Opinions?