Tag Archive for: ‘ballot

Federal court backs ballot selfies

/in

Just in time for the biggest election in the history of democracy, a three-judge federal appeals court has told the state of New Hampshire that it cannot prevent voters from taking a selfie with their completed ballot.

News of the decision comes via a tweet from executive editor of the Manchester Union-Leader:

092816blog tweet selfies ballot

In August 2015, a different judge had overturned New Hampshire’s ban on ballot selfies, but the elected officials of the “Live Free or Die” state inexplicably decided to appeal that decision to a higher court. Their argument is that ballot selfies encourage vote buying by allowing the selfie-taker to provide evidence that he or she voted as the buyer instructed.

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Network World Paul McNamara

N.H. judge overturns ban on ‘ballot selfies’

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Residents of the “Live Free or Die” state are now free to take “ballot selfies.”

If, like me, you had been unaware that ballot selfies are thing or that they had been explicitly banned in New Hampshire, here’s the gist from Boston.com.

A federal judge Monday repealed (New Hampshire’s) law banning photos of filled-out election ballots, ruling that it violated the First Amendment. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro said the law was unconstitutional, because it did not meet the standards necessary for the state to restrict political free speech.

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Network World Paul McNamara