Memphis, Tenn. – A polling worker in Memphis, Tennessee, denied early voters wearing the “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” shirts, an election official said Monday.
Shelby County Election Commission spokeswoman Suzanne Thompson said the worker was fired Friday after receiving a phone call from a witness at the Dave Wells Community Center in Memphis.
Tennessee law does not allow voters to wear items bearing the name of a candidate or political party at a polling station. But state law does not prohibit statements such as “Black Lives Matter”.
Voters who were told to leave were not immediately known, but Thompson said there were only a few. The poll worker thought the statements were linked to the Democratic Party, the poll said.
“It was too bad,” he said. “They were supposed not to be turned over.”
Voting has been tight in Memphis and across Tennessee since the Nov. 3 election. Preliminary voting in the state ends on October 29.
