Photo by WEWS.

If you’re looking for a smooth voting process in Ohio, don’t wear political attire to the polls.

Diane Medina went out to the Lorain County Board of Elections early to vote in what she said was the most important election of her lifetime.

“Definitely for the presidency; that’s the main reason why I was here early,” Medina said.

She and her husband, Jose, had no problem waiting in the sun to cast their ballots.

“Long lines, but it was very swift,” she said.

And while the process was smooth for them, their BOE has already had to pull voters out of line to enforce state guidelines — all because of their clothing.

“This isn’t a new rule,” Lorain County BOE Director Paul Adams said. “This is something that we’ve done for a number of years.”

State rules prohibit voters or poll workers from wearing anything that can be seen as supporting or opposing a candidate, party or issue.

“We do ask that you remove any campaign shirts, paraphernalia, hats — those kind of things that you have that support or oppose any candidate or issue,” he continued.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office said this includes attire or garb with slogans like “Make America Great Again” or “MAGA.”

Many boards, like Lake and Portage, have signs posted with their rules.

“Each of our polling locations will also have signs posted in case voters are curious as to why they’re being asked to remove a hat or cover up a shirt or whatever the case may be,” Portage County BOE Deputy Director Terrie Nielsen said.

Although it may be exciting to support your candidate, you don’t want to run into issues.

“Everyone has a mission,” Medina said.

So, to be on the safe side, keep the political garb on your lawn — and not at the polls.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook.

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.