NEVER TOLERATE TYRANNY!....Conservative voices from the GRASSROOTS.

‘Don’t tread on me’: Tea Partiers Denied the Right to Vote in Texas

‘Don’t tread on me’: Tea Partiers Denied the Right to Vote in Texas

Source: Yahoo News!
URL Source: [None]
Published: Oct 19, 2010
Author: Alexis Levinson

‘Don’t tread on me’: Tea Partiers Denied the Right to Vote in Texas

A Texas woman was denied the right to vote on Monday because she was
wearing a button bearing a Gadsden flag — the rattlesnake under the
words “Don’t Tread on Me” that has become the unofficial image of the
Tea Party.

Katrina Pierson, who sits on the steering committee of the Dallas Tea Party and is also involved with the Garland Tea Party,
told The Daily Caller that “around 11 o’clock yesterday,” a Garland Tea
Party member, reported that she was told by an election official that
she could not vote unless she removed her button. A second election
official, Pierson said, did not recognize the button and did not
understand why the other official was not permitting the woman to vote.

According to Pierson, the woman refused to remove her button, saying it
was a violation of her first amendment rights, and called the sheriff’s
office. The sheriff passed the matter on to the Dallas County Election
Department, which failed to act.

The woman opted not to vote until she had done more research and figured out whether or not the
election official was allowed to do that. The Garland Tea Party is
currently conducting that investigation on her behalf.

“If we have to file suit against the county, we will,” says Pierson.

Pierson said that she had heard of a similar incident in Waco, Texas,
where a voter was not permitted to vote while wearing a Waco Tea Party
T-shirt.

Election officials, apparently, were concerned that sporting such symbols constituted electioneering, which the Texas
election code specifically prohibits within “within one hundred feet” of
the polls.

Is the tea party movement a passing storm or is it here to stay?

But Pierson says, “It’s not electioneering, it’s not a candidate, it’s not a party affiliation.”

The Dallas Tea Party does not consider itself a political party. The
code of conduct listed on its website defines the group as such: “The
Dallas Tea Party is, and will continue to be, an expressly non-partisan,
non-profit organization dedicated to citizen education, empowerment and
engagement.” The code says the group will not “issue … endorsements of
candidates” nor will it campaign for any candidate in any way. This is a
significant difference from Tea Party groups such as the Tea Party
Express, which endorses and campaigns for candidates.

The Dallas Tea Party has sent an e-mail to various Tea Party groups around the
state notifying them of what happened, and is calling for people to not
back down:

“We encourage you to wear a Gadsden Flag T-shirt or ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ button when you go to cast your vote,” the e-mail
says. “If you are denied your right to vote because of your open public
support of the tea party movement, we encourage you to DOCUMENT
EVERYTHING.”

Asked why, as this seems counterproductive if members will not be permitted to vote, Pierson explained:

“They’re Tea Party members, and we stand for constitutional rights, and
the first amendment being a very important one. If being an American
citizen disqualifies you from voting, then we have a bigger problem than
we thought.”