This Nov. 4 election is more about school finance, a new Spurs arena and year-round rodeo district than political candidates — but the Bexar County Elections Department wants voters to know state law still prohibits wearing campaign swag when they go to vote.
“This includes logos of school districts, cities, the San Antonio Spurs and San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo named on the ballot,” Elections Administrator Michele Carew said Wednesday.
Voters who show up wearing such gear will be asked to take it off, cover it up or turn it inside out before entering the voting booth.
“This is not a county policy. It’s the law,” Carew said.
That doesn’t mean it’s popular. Last year a Bexar County elections clerk was assaulted after asking a man to remove his pro-Trump hat at the Johnston Library polling center.
Spurs supporters Rick Regallado and Fernando Hernandez wave to and approach cars hoping to encourage people to vote for Propositions A and B as they enter the parking lot at the Lions Field early voting polling location on Wednesday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
At the Lions Field polling location on Broadway on Wednesday, elections officials were monitoring the situation to stay in compliance.
Props A and B on the Bexar County ballot would direct roughly $500 million toward a new NBA arena and upgraded rodeo facility, and have drawn energetic campaigns from those both for and against the idea.
Supporters dressed in Spurs gear were flagging down cars and approaching voters as soon as they exited their vehicles to discuss and hand out literature on the big arena vote.
Texas law allows that kind of campaigning as long as it’s at least 100 feet away from the polling location.
Within the 100-foot zone, expressing preference for or against any candidate, measure, or political party — regardless of whether they are or are not on the ballot — is against the rules.
Though Props A and B have driven a lot of emotion from supporters and opponents alike, voters at Lions Field seemed to be handling both the campaign outreach and the swag reminders with grace.
A voter shows off his Spurs hat while exiting the parking lot of the Lions Field early voting polling location on Wednesday. The voter was not seen entering or exiting the voting entrance with the cap on. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
A poll worker stopped a man in a Spurs shirt approaching the voting entrance, and he quickly agreed to turn it inside out. The poll worker then walked around voter to scan once more for any visible branding before letting him enter to vote.
Another voter was exiting the parking lot in his car, and pointed to the Spurs hat he was wearing as others were entering the parking lot.
Early voting runs though Oct. 31. Voters can choose from any of these early voting locations, or find a convenient location on the Elections Department’s interactive map.