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On November 5th, 95,000 voting centers will be open for the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Each voting site will work according to state laws, which are important to learn. In California or Arkansas, for example, it is illegal to go to a voting center with a T-shirt with the picture of Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, or any other candidate. In Arizona, you’re not allowed to advise people who to vote for, unless you are outside the voting center and at least 75 feet away from the door. In Michigan, you must be at least 100 feet away.
These guidelines are set to protect voters from intimidation or any other sort of pressure. North Carolina specifically prohibits obstructing the entrance of a voting center, and in 9 states, including Virginia, it is unlawful to loiter within a certain distance of any polling place entrance. Some states have gone beyond. Up to last year, New York law even prohibited giving cigarettes or refreshments to anyone on Election Day, in case it was a form of bribery.
Rules can be very different between states, but the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has a good summary of each state’s laws and prohibitions here. In 38 states, any sort of election advertising inside a polling place is forbidden - in Wisconsin, law prohibits any “election-related materials” and in Pennsylvania there may not be “any printed or written materials except those permitted by law.” In 21 states, voters are not allowed to wear political buttons or pins in a voting center. In Texas, wearing a button may lead to up to 180 days in prison and a $2,000 fine.
These limitations affect exit polls, since interviewers may not be allowed to approach voters after they vote and ask who they supported. This practice is actually forbidden in polling stations in Missouri and Georgia, unless the interviewer is over 25 feet away from the entrance of the voting center.
Besides, most states have rules determining who can enter a voting center on Election Day. Voters are always allowed, of course, as well as poll workers. Poll watchers and representatives of both candidates are also allowed, as long as they have the proper credentials and do not bother voters. In Virginia, for example, candidates are allowed to be in voting sites, but only for a max. of 10 minutes.
What you can do in your voting site on Presidential Election Day 2024
Like we already explained at Factchequeado, authorities must offer all election documentation in Spanish as well, including ballots, as long as you live in a county with more than 10,000 Spanish speakers or where Spanish speakers represent more than 5% of total voters. This includes cities like Los Angeles or Miami, naturally, but also key state counties like Maricopa in Arizona, where Phoenix is. You can check your county in this list, published by the Department of Justice.
Besides, federal legislation allows anyone with an inability to read in English the right to be accompanied by a person of their choice, as long as they are not your employer, boss, or a union representative.
According to the NCSL, in 23 states and the District of Columbia, you can register to vote on the same Election Day in any voting center. This is the case of California, Nevada or New Mexico. However, in other states you have to register before Election Day. In Florida or Texas, for example, the deadline to register was October 7.
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