Is it Illegal to Take a Selfie With Your Ballot in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts?
"Ballot selfies" are becoming increasingly popular.
If you are unfamiliar with the "official" term, because I was also, it is exactly what it sounds like - taking a picture with your ballot after you voted.
It is a way to show your followers, most of the time on social media, who you voted for.
Posting a ballot selfie can do two things: 1. Encourage people to vote in general - which is certainly a good thing. 2. Push future voters to vote for whoever the ballot selfie taker voted for - this is where it gets hairy.
There are pros and cons to that, but I'm not here to debate whether or not celebrities should be pushing a political party using their platform.
I am here to talk about its legality.
Is it legal to post a ballot selfie, showing your followers who you voted for?
In some states, it is perfectly fine. In other states, it is a hard no - illegal.
In New Hampshire, some lawmakers tried to make it illegal back around 2017. But, "in April 2017, the Supreme Court declined to review the First Circuit Court’s decision to strike down New Hampshire’s ban on photographing marked ballots," making ballot selfies 100% legal, according to a Vox article.
Maine is a bit grey - there is no law outlawing ballot selfies; however, they are strongly discouraged.
The Associated Press reported in 2016 that “the secretary of state discourages ballot selfies because there’s a ban on making unauthorized ballot copies, but there’s no law against voters posting photos of their marked ballots,” according to Vox.
Now Massachusetts is wildly different. For a pretty liberal state, they are NOT liberal on this decision...
"Anyone who “allows the marking of his ballot to be seen by any person for any purpose not authorized by law” is punishable “by imprisonment for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars,” according to Vox.
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