A poll worker in Memphis, Tennessee was fired over the weekend after election officials said he had turned away voters who were wearing “Black Lives Matter” or “I Can’t Breathe” masks and T-shirts., the Commercial Appeal has reported.
Although Tennessee state law prohibits voters from wearing clothing with the name of a candidate or political party on the ballot while at a polling place, the statements “Black Lives Matter” or “I Can’t Breathe” do not violate the law.
The poll worker reportedly thought the statements were illegal, because he considered them connected to the Democratic Party, said Suzanne Thompson, spokeswoman for the Shelby County Election Commission.
But she said that “what he did was patently wrong and he was fired.”
The next day, another poll worker at the same location who was friends with the one who was fired and drove to work together with him decided to quit, Thompson said.
On Monday, at least 19,240 voters in Shelby County voted early, marking the second-highest one-day total since 2000, according to a tweet from the election commission.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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