Despite an ongoing lawsuit in the state's Commonwealth Court challenging whether voters can wear partisan T-shirts and buttons into the polls, most county elections officials will continue with business as usual until they're told differently.

On Sept. 8, state elections Commissioner Chet Harhut issued a memorandum to all county boards of election, reiterating that as long as voters are not actively "electioneering," it is OK for them to wear clothing or campaign buttons supporting their candidates.

But, it continued, it would be up to individual counties to create policies on the issue.

Soon after the memo, though, two Allegheny County poll workers filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that wearing such garb should be considered "passive electioneering," and is prohibited by the election code.

"No person, when within the polling place, shall electioneer or solicit votes for any political party, political body or candidate, nor shall any written or printed matter be posted up within the said room, except as required by this act," the code states.

The plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit that voters wearing partisan materials could be "intimidating."

"Ensuring that our polling places are 'electioneering free zones' preserves the peace by preventing not only intimidation but also the contentiousness that can arise from a citizen, waiting patiently to vote, being sandwiched between other persons politicizing the process, creating a tinder box of rabble-rousing," the lawsuit said.

The argument that a voter would be intimidated, said Witold Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, is "absurd and unsupported by any evidence."

His organization filed a motion to intervene in the case late last week and has argued that the choice of clothing made by a voter is a protected form of free speech.

"Your First Amendment rights shouldn't depend on where you happen to vote," he said.

In Allegheny County, there has never been a policy prohibiting voters from wearing what they want, said Mark Wolosik, who heads the county elections division.

That will continue.

"It never was a problem before," Mr. Wolosik said, noting that they have had a handful of complaints on the issue but never ended up in election court over it.

But the ACLU received complaints from voters in Mt. Lebanon after this year's primary, saying that they were prohibited from voting because they wore T-shirts that endorsed candidates.

That prompted the ACLU to send a letter to the state, asking it to clarify its position, which the Sept. 8 memo should have done. Instead, it appears it has clouded the issue even more.

Officials with a number of Western Pennsylvania counties say that they will stick with the policies they've always had in place.

While Allegheny and Greene will allow voters to wear what they want, Fayette, Westmoreland and Mercer counties plan to continue to enforce a policy of no campaign clothes or buttons at the polls.

In Butler County, according to Regis Young, director of elections, there has always been such a policy. Now, though, the county will review its policy, Mr. Young said.

He is disgruntled by the state's memo, saying that there's no mention of "passive electioneering" in the state code.

"As far as I'm concerned, none of it is OK," Mr. Young said. "Electioneering is electioneering. The election code is very clear.

"What's so hard about taking a dang button off?" Mr. Young asked.

But, he continued, he would not ever allow a voter to be turned away.

For example, he said, poll workers could offer jackets to voters to cover up, or if necessary, wait until the room is clear to allow the person to go in and vote.

But that kind of arbitrary policy just makes matters worse, Mr. Walczak said.

"That's a prescription for confusion and an invitation for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement," he said. "That kind of uncertainty is tremendously dangerous because it authorizes poll workers to exercise discretion."