§ 20A-3-501. Polling place -- Prohibited activities.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "electioneering" includes any oral, printed, or written attempt to persuade persons to refrain from voting or to vote for or vote against any candidate or issue; and

(b) "polling place" means the physical place where ballots and absentee ballots are cast and includes the county clerk's office or city hall during the period in which absentee ballots may be cast there.

(2)

(a) A person may not, within a polling place or in any public area within 150 feet of the building where a polling place is located:

(i) do any electioneering;

(ii) circulate cards or handbills of any kind;

(iii) solicit signatures to any kind of petition; or

(iv) engage in any practice that interferes with the freedom of voters to vote or disrupts the administration of the polling place.

(b) A county, municipality, school district, or local district may not prohibit electioneering that occurs more than 150 feet from the building where a polling place is located, but may regulate the place and manner of that electioneering to protect the public safety.

(3)

(a) A person may not obstruct the doors or entries to a building in which a polling place is located or prevent free access to and from any polling place.

(b) A sheriff, deputy sheriff, or municipal law enforcement officer shall prevent the obstruction of the entrance to a polling place and may arrest any person creating an obstruction.

(4) A person may not:

(a) remove any ballot from the polling place before the closing of the polls, except as provided in Section 20A-4-101; or

(b) solicit any voter to show his ballot.

(5) A person may not receive a voted ballot from any voter or deliver an unused ballot to a voter unless that person is a poll worker.

(6) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

(7) A political subdivision may not prohibit political signs that are located more than 150 feet away from a polling place, but may regulate their placement to protect public safety.

Amended by Chapter 75, 2007 General Session
Amended by Chapter 329, 2007 General Session