Campaigning in or near a polling place is against the law.

U.S. Supreme Court has challenged broad restrictions of "political" attire at polls.

This story has been updated with clarification from the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office.

LAS CRUCES – President Donald Trump does not appear on any ballot this year. Yet, wearing a Trump T-shirt to a Las Cruces early voting station led to a delay when David Merry voted on Tuesday.

During early voting, orange cones mark a 100-foot boundary from the entrance to the Doña Ana County Government Center on Motel Boulevard. When Merry crossed that line during his lunch break Tuesday afternoon, he was wearing a T-shirt he said his son gave him as a joke in 2015.

The shirt has the face of Donald Trump, with the message "Trump 2016." Underneath that, a jocular slogan reads, "There will be hell toupee." Merry also wore a light jacket, as it was raining that day in Las Cruces.

As he checked in to receive his ballot, the presiding judge for the polling location told him he would have to zip up his jacket in order to vote.

However, the New Mexico Secretary of State's office informed the Sun-News on Thursday that Merry's t-shirt does not violate the election code.

Is a Trump shirt electioneering?

New Mexico's election code bans "signs or campaign literature, campaign buttons, T-shirts, hats, pins or other such items (including) verbal or electronic solicitation of votes for a candidate or question" within 100 feet of a polling place.

MORE:See who's running for office in Doña Ana County

MORE:See who's running for statewide, federal offices in New Mexico

"The guy on my shirt isn't even running for election," Merry said when recalling his argument with the presiding judge. Nonetheless he was told to cover his T-shirt or leave the premises.

On Wednesday, Chief Deputy Clerk Lindsey Bachman told the Sun-News the rule is not limited to the actual candidates or questions on the ballot in 2018.

"That’s still political campaigning that’s associated with issues and values and ideas that are easily recognized," Bachman said. "It doesn’t just need to say vote for this candidate ... If a candidate who is not on the ballot but was on the ballot in a previous year endorses a current candidate in a big public way, then essentially you’ve connected it to the candidates that are on the ballot."

On Thursday, when this story first went live on the Sun-News website, the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office contacted to the Sun-News to say Merry's T-shirt was fine, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June.

“Wearing a T-shirt or a button or something like that is OK in New Mexico as long as the people are not on the ballot or it doesn’t refer to a ballot question," Communications Director Alex Curtas said.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Minnesota law banning political messages in polling places as being overly broad. While the high court affirmed the importance of restricting campaign advocacy near polling places across the United States, it challenged one law prohibiting any material deemed "political" and said such codes needed to be clearly defined and reasonable.

“This is the first election that has happened since that ruling," Curtas said. "The county clerks and poll workers have been given the proper guidance … that in light of the Supreme Court ruling, that piece of the election code only applies to people who are on the ballot.”

"I wasn't campaigning for him or anybody else," Merry said.

MORE:Doña Ana County early voting tracker: Are we still leading the state?

Navigating political dress codes at polls

In the end, Merry was able to a cast ballot, but was escorted from the building by security after an argument with the presiding judge, according to both Merry and county officials.

Bachman affirmed that the presiding judge handled the incident professionally and in compliance with the law.

Merry also remarked on the fact that while he was engaged about his T-shirt, he was not asked to present an I.D. to vote. He acknowledged that his registration was confirmed by stating his mailing address. New Mexico law allows voters to confirm their identity without showing identification.

MORE:Doña Ana County sees large numbers during early voting

Early voting opened on Oct. 20 at eight locations in the county, four of them in Las Cruces. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6 and more than 40 voting convenience centers will be in operation from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonActor on Twitter.