Voter arrested for wearing political costume to polls

<p>A man who wore a John Kerry T-shirt and President Bush mask to a county election office was arrested Friday for disorderly conduct.</p><p>Police say 35-year-old Kevin Daniel Dodds, of Gainesville, broke a law against campaigning outside a polling place when he wore the costume to a voting place on the last day of Georgia's early voting period.</p><p>The incident started Friday when Dodds' wife came to vote with an infant child wearing a Kerry-Edwards shirt. Poll workers asked Mrs. Dodds to turn the child's shirt inside out so she could remain and vote, but the mother allegedly refused and left.</p><p>Later that day, Kevin Dodds went to the polling place saying he would protest the baby shirt matter. A police report said Dodds stood outside the polling place screaming, sometimes using foul language, and refused requests to take off his mask.</p><p>When Dodds was arrested, he "reeked of alcohol," said Sgt. Chris Robinson of the Gainesville police.</p><p>Dodds was charged with obstruction of an officer and disorderly conduct. A state law prohibits campaigning within 150 feet of a polling site. Red, diamond-shaped signs outside polling places explain the law, which prevents voters from wearing even stickers for a candidate.</p><p>Dodds was also charged with the unusual crime of wearing a mask. In Georgia, a law inspired by the Ku Klux Klan makes it illegal to wear masks except on "holidays and special occasions." The charge is seldom invoked.</p><p>All his charges are misdemeanors, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x28656d0)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/10/157673