| Inside the No on 8 boiler room the phones are ringing. The most common issue is volunteers being challenged for being 100 feet away from polling locations as required by law.
The first problem to crop up was schools, where principals were shooing them away. This is a pretty typical issue and generally not worth fighting. In those situations, volunteers can still wave signs by the public entrance on public property.
Now we are starting to get calls from volunteers in front of churches. Unsurprisingly, the churches are not happy with people urging voters to vote No on Prop 8 and are wielding whatever power they have to try and drive our people away. In several locations the police were called.
The No on 8 campaign is armed with a statement from the Secretary of State with a legal interpretation that polling locations are public spaces for the election day and people are allowed to be on property at least 100 feet away. Each of the volunteers is armed with this letter. I am trying to get a copy of it and will post it when I have it, but that is my understanding of what it says.
In at least one location our people were shooed away from a Catholic Church, but were letting Yes people to stay. |
