HENDERSON, NV — Volunteers at a number of Nevada caucus sites are wearing Donald Trump gear while working Tuesday night’s chaotic GOP presidential caucus in Nevada, a contest Trump is widely expected to win.
Nevada State Assembly member Stephen Silverkraus, manager of the Green Valley High caucus site, initially thought volunteers were prohibited from wearing apparel of that sort, but after calling his party’s headquarters, told ThinkProgress they’re are allowed to “wear or hold” campaign gear as long as they don’t “distribute” it.
2 poll workers at Green Valley wearing Trump gear, which is not allowed. #NVcaucus pic.twitter.com/tKM4cpSIXx
— Alice Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) February 24, 2016
Now the site manager says it's fine as long as they don't distribute anything. He didn't know and had to call his boss to ask.
— Alice Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) February 24, 2016
A number of other people reported seeing the same thing at other sites:
@MarcACaputo there are at least 7 at my location. pic.twitter.com/m0gQQCHrAe
— Letty Burgin (@LettyBurgin) February 24, 2016
RNC claims the "Chaos is contained" as more and more pictures of Trump supporters working the caucus sites surface. pic.twitter.com/iU5iOtqBoE
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) February 24, 2016
This photo is from a #NVcaucus goer. Clearly shows one of the ballot collectors wearing Trump gear. pic.twitter.com/y3NM2MXtnx
— Conrad Close (@conradclose) February 24, 2016
The only poll workers at Green Valley High who could be seen wearing candidate gear were those wearing pro-Trump items.
Wayne Thorburn, a volunteer for the Rubio campaign who traveled from Texas to help monitor this election, said he was dismayed to learn that volunteers could legally sport Trump gear.
“It’s a shock to me,” he told ThinkProgress. “When we have primaries, you can’t even have a button when you’re voting, let alone [wear it while] working. This is all new to me, that you can do that.”
Update:
After images of poll workers wearing Trump gear began to circulate on social media, the Nevada GOP tweeted that there’s no rule prohibiting them from doing so:
It's not against the rules for volunteers to wear candidate gear. Volunteers went through extensive training & are doing a great job
— Nevada GOP (@NVGOP) February 24, 2016