“What he did was patently wrong and he was fired,” said Suzanne Thompson, spokeswoman for the Shelby County Election Commission.
Tennessee does not allow voters to wear items bearing the name of a candidate or a political party in a polling place. But, voters can wear items that say, “Black Lives Matter” because no law prohibits it, according to Thompson .
On Friday, a poll worker in Memphis turned away some early voters who wore shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breath.” After further review of the incident, a manager of operations fired him immediately. The poll worker believed the sayings were tied to the Democratic Party.
A day later, another poll worker failed to show up at the location and eventually quit. The two poll workers were friends and drove to work together, Thompson said.
