Letter to secretary of state asks chicken suits be allowed at polls

A Democratic Party-aligned group on Tuesday asked the secretary of state to revoke a ban on chicken suits near the polls.

The request by ProgressNow Nevada came in response to Secretary of State Ross Miller, who added chicken costumes to the list of banned campaign material such as political buttons, shirts, hats and signs within 100 feet of polling places as early voting got underway this weekend for the June 8 primary.

Chicken outfits made the list after ProgressNow Nevada and the Democratic Party had for weeks stalked Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden with folks wearing chicken outfits and with live barnyard animals to mock her for suggesting bartering with doctors like in the old days when, as she put it, "our grandparents would bring a chicken to the doctor."

Lowden had been leading the GOP pack of a dozen candidates vying for the right to take on the Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid in the fall.

But Lowden's star fell after the so-called "bartergate" episode and polls show that the race has tightened with Tea Party conservative favorite Sharron Angle now threatening to steal the GOP crown, and Danny Tarkanian still a contender in what has turned into a close three-way race to the finish.

ProgressNow Nevada, in its letter to the secretary of state, said there is no law prohibiting dress that includes costumes at the polls.

"If I wanted to vote as Uncle Sam would that be a problem? If I chose to dress as a gorilla, would that be a problem?" asked ProgressNow Nevada Executive Director Erin Neff in the letter.

The letter asks Miller to revoke the rule banning chicken suits, which ProgressNow Nevada argues is a free speech and fair elections matter.