NKY poll worker who wore a Moms for Liberty T-shirt on Election Day was asked to remove it

The complaint came in around 7:30 a.m. on Election Day. A poll worker in Northern Kentucky was wearing a navy blue T-shirt with #iamMomsForLiberty printed in white and yellow on the front – a nod to the controversial conservative group that has pushed for book bans and opposed COVID-19 regulations and curriculum on LGBTQ issues.

Mirna Eads, the Campbell County chapter chair, was the one wearing the T-shirt.

She worked the polls for 12 hours Tuesday at the Southgate Community Center, about 10 miles south of Cincinnati. She said she only had it on for about an hour.

Then, the polling location got a call from Campbell County Clerk Jim Luersen.

"We immediately contacted the polling place and had her remove the offending shirt," he said.

But why does it matter what poll workers wear on Election Day?

'A matter of optics'

Legally, people can wear political attire while working at poll locations. Kentucky Revised Statute 117.235, which lays out electioneering specifics, doesn't mention it.

"There is no specific law, but it’s a matter of optics," said Michon Lindstrom, spokesman for the Kentucky secretary of state's office.

The county clerk can ask the poll worker to cover political attire or leave.

"But there is no fine or prosecution," she said.

Luersen said poll workers are always told during training they can't wear political attire.

"We always say that you can't wear anything political, be it candidate or issues. So, that was not acceptable to us. That's why we had her take it off," Luersen said.

So why did she wear the T-shirt?

Eads said Moms for Liberty is an organization that advocates for parental rights, not a political organization.

The group has, however, been deemed "a far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Eads said that's not true.

"We have members from every political corner. We defend parental rights PERIOD. We only endorse school board candidates. Regardless of what others say," she said in a text.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kentucky poll worker was asked to remove her Moms for Liberty T-shirt