Man Sings and Calls Ohio Voters 'Morons' Outside Early-Voting Site: Officials Say Speech Is Constitutionally Protected
A video circulating on TikTok shows an unidentified man walking near voters outside the Warren County Board of Elections in Ohio on November 1, the last day of early voting, mocking people waiting to cast ballots, calling them "morons" and then breaking into song. As the clip spread further on midterm Election Day, November 3, some TikTok users described the behavior as "voter intimidation." Warren County Board of Elections Director Brian Sleeth told The Cincinnati Enquirer that the speech did not cross the line and is constitutionally protected.
In the video, the man sings to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It": "If you're voting and it's not a breadline, clap your hands. If you're glad you're voting and it's not a breadline, clap your hands." He continues: "Cause if you vote socialist and you know it, they're sure to blow it, so vote Republican and it's not a breadline, clap your hands." Someone off camera can be heard saying sarcastically, "It rhymes real well."
Sleeth said campaigners must stay at least 10 feet away from voters, but his staff cannot prohibit speech, including the kind recorded in the video, "unless the voters are being stopped or prohibited from going in." "Our goal here is to make sure the law is followed," he said. He added that people can file voter intimidation and interference complaints on the Ohio Secretary of State's website.
The incident took place at the county's early-voting site in Warren County, a suburban Cincinnati county. Ohio set an early-voting record this year: according to the Ohio Secretary of State, about 1.7 million Ohioans had already voted by November 1, in person or by mail-in absentee ballot. On Election Day, November 3, polls across the state opened at 6:30 a.m. and were set to close at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Viral TikTok video
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 俄亥俄州提前投票选民排队资料图（Dean Beeler摄，2008年，CC BY 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons；非事发现场图）
