Electioneering alert: Report it if seen at polls today

As voters head to the polls today, remember that interference of any kind could lead to a fine or possible arrest.

Electioneering at the polls is prohibited under Idaho Code 18-2318. Types of electioneering listed in the statute include the circulation of cards, handbills and the solicitation of signatures.

The law states that individuals within 100 feet or inside a polling place cannot engage in “any practice which interferes with the freedom of voters to exercise their franchise or disrupt(ion of) the administration of the polling place.”

Individuals are also prohibited from obstructing or preventing free access to and from any polling place.

Any election officer, sheriff or other peace officer is authorized per I.D. 18-2318 to arrest any person for electioneering. The offense is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.

Following an opinion by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office last fall, clothing that supports political candidates or positions is permitted at the polls.

“A button or T-shirt is worn into a polling place in a passive manner absent some other conduct does not appear to rise to the level of conduct which falls within the ambit of Idaho Code 18-2318,” the opinion reads.

However, if a voter attempts to engage in active conduct — making a speech, waving a shirt as a flag, or otherwise interferes with those present at the polls — the opinion recommends contacting the sheriff’s office.

A memorandum filed last Wednesday by Chief U.S. District Judge David Nye stated schools could limit expression on their grounds, regardless of distance from the polling place, if they have “a reasonable and viewpoint-neutral reason” to do so.

“The interest children have in a safe, peaceful educational environment outweighs the potentially minimal harm to landowners, electioneers and voters of having to promote certain causes and candidates off school property on Election Day,” Nye wrote.