Well, it’s almost Election Day here in the good ol’ United States of America, and unfortunately that means one thing: drama. But as early voting begins and the big day finally approaches, the drama may well extend beyond the bashing of the candidates’ respective campaigns.

The bottom line is this: Our states have some really weird election laws about what you can and can’t do on Election Day, and while they can be stupid and mean-spirited—or downright hilarious—you might find yourself having a hard time. bad side of the situation. the long arm of the law if you break them.

Here are some weird things you can get arrested for on Election Day.

In case you’ve forgotten what you learned in high school civics class (and given the way things are in this country, it seems reasonable to assume that most of us have – if we even had a civics class in high school in the first place), there’s a little thing called electioneering.

It’s a fancy word for trying to influence people’s votes on an election site. In fact, a guy was just arrested for violating these laws in Texas this week!

In fact, he was arrested for punching a poll worker who told him he couldn’t wear a Trump hat to a polling place, but whatever. Either way, hats are just the start when it comes to laws about what you can and can’t wear near a polling place — along with a whole bunch of other weird laws on the electoral campaign.

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Several states have weird and very old laws regarding what you should wear when voting.

Most of us have heard that hats, t-shirts, signs — basically anything bearing a candidate’s name or a slogan linked to the campaign – are prohibited.

Most states prohibit such things within 100 feet of a polling place, which is why this brave gentleman from Texas was asked to remove his hat.

But some places’ definition of election dress is downright strange. For example, in the state of Texas you are free to carry a sword or spear most of the time, but you will need to leave it at home when you vote.

And in a town in Indianawomen are not allowed to wear backless tops or swimsuits to political events. No one knows why they would want to do it in the first place, but don’t try.

However, it’s probably okay to wear a Speedo to vote if you’re a man.

It is illegal in several states to hand out food or drinks to voters waiting in line.

One of the most absurd traditions of American voting is that too often in recent years, voters have to form endless lines to cast their ballots, especially in areas with high concentrations of non-white voters (I can’t imagine why! — he said sarcastically).

To encourage people to stay and exercise their honesty, some kind people have I thought about bringing some water and snacks for those waiting. But they better think about it again because so-called “line warming” is seen as vote buying in many places.

Georgia made this illegal a few years ago, a move that caused an uproar — and a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” storyline. But the Peach State is not alone.

In New York, it has been illegal to provide voters with more than a dollar’s worth of “meat, drink, tobacco, refreshments or provisions” since 1906. Arkansas and Florida have also passed similar laws in the past two years. And in 1997, Kentucky invalidated an election entirely after a local candidate provided food to poll workers.

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Drinking alcohol near a polling place is illegal in Minnesota.

Are you planning to have a beer at your polling station in the Land of 10,000 Lakes? Think again, alcoholic. The state considers “intoxicating alcohol” to be election propagandaprobably because they hate having fun.

You’ll notice that not a single reporter has thought to hold Minnesota Governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz accountable for this law this election cycle because our news media can’t give themselves away. worth doing their job!

The American people deserve better – and have Blotto in the voting booth if they want it!

Several states have other very bizarre voting restrictions that are fortunately not enforced.

Honestly, I won’t argue with you about the existence of laws prohibiting “idiots” from voting, as Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Ohio do. Unfortunately, the meaning of the term “idiot” today is very different than it did in the 19th and early 20th centuries when these laws were passed.

At the time, that meant people with disabilities, and many of these states’ laws also prohibit “insane” people from voting, that is, those with mental illness. So, these laws are… pretty terrible, actually! And fortunately, this is no longer enforced.

Indiana and Alabama have even more bizarre laws — they limit the time a voter can spend in a voting booth to just three and four minutes, respectively. That’s not even enough time to vote for all those judges we have to elect every two years, much less for a full runoff!

Fortunately, these aren’t enforced either… although one wonders why they’re on the books in the first place.

And for those of you who want to run for office yourself, you better believe in God if you want to run in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Maryland or in Arkansas. All six have laws stating that you must acknowledge the existence of a higher power to run for office, despite that pesky little thing called the Constitution prohibiting such things. Oops !

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John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.