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To selfie or not to selfie?
Snapping a selfie with your vote ballot can feel like the perfect way to celebrate a proud moment of patriotism. And with Election Day here, plenty of Americans are looking to do just that. But a ballot selfie could land you a fine or even get you arrested in some states.
SEE ALSO: Give America what it deserves: Make election day a holiday
New Yorkers are among the many Americans who aren't allowed to photograph their ballots, according to a court decision made earlier this month. But the tide is turning in other states, as more Americans gain the right to selfie while voting.
Can I take a selfie?
American state laws can vary widely and even contradict one another. The ballot selfie is no exception, so it's best to find out in advance where you can and can't take a selfie while voting.
Right now, 20 states allow ballot selfies, while 18 consider them illegal and 13 states have laws that are not totally clear, according to a review by the Associated Press.
Like New York, a court in Michigan just recently decided the state would continue enforcing bans on ballot selfies. Meanwhile, in other states, the bans have been lifted. New Hampshire voters will have the right to selfie while voting, thanks to an appeals court decision made in September. The court ruled that selfies are speech protected by the First Amendment.
20 states allow ballot selfies, while 18 consider them illegal and 13 states have laws that are not totally clear.
That same reasoning has been applied in other states where laws are changing. California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a law repealing the state's law banning ballot selfies. However, a court recently ruled that since the new law is not yet in effect this election, California ballot selfies are still considered illegal.
The lines are even more blurred in other states. For instance, Arizona state law prohibits any photography within 75 feet of a polling place. However, the state legislature passed a law in 2015 making ballot selfies legal. You just can't take the selfie inside the polling place, and you can only photograph your own ballot. And in states like Maryland and Texas, you can only selfie with a mail-in ballot, not at the polling place.
Other states are more definitive about where they stand, at least for this election.
Where selfies are legal:
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Kentucky
Lousiana
Maine
Minnesota
Montana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Oregon
Rhode Island
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
Where selfies are illegal:
Alabama
Alaska
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Kansas
Massachusetts
Michigan
Mississippi
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
South Carolina
South Dakota
Wisconsin
Early voted today... and there was a selfie station. Go vote! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/OMWjIgSFrU
— Andy Toensmeyer (@AndyToensmeyer) November 2, 2016
Snap wants all the selfies
One major supporter of the ballot selfie comes as no surprise. Snap Inc., formerly known as Snapchat, has been pushing for state law changes. It supported California's repeal of a ban on ballot selfies last month.
Earlier in the year, it presented a 30-page amicus brief in a New Hampshire court case against three people who posted ballot selfies.
Snap Inc. is giving a passionate defense of the ballot selfie. And it's working.Credit: J. Emilio Flores/ corbis via Getty ImagesThe company gave a passionate, patriotic argument honoring the new selfie tradition.
"Ballot selfies are the latest in a long historical tradition of voters sharing their civic enthusiasm — and their votes — with their social networks," Snap said in court filings, claiming Election Day has always been a time of celebration worthy of a selfie.
"During the nineteenth century, voting was more than casting a ballot. Election Day was a social occasion, with political parties sponsoring raucous gatherings at the polls."
Just learned that most states ban selfies at the ballot box. WTF? If a selfie gets a young person to vote, there's no problem. #ds2016
— Mathew Rodriguez (@mathewrodriguez) October 25, 2016
The New Hampshire case involved three people who had posted ballot selfies, including Andrew Langlois. After posting the selfie, Langlois got a call from the state's attorney general’s office saying he was being investigated.
The American Civil Liberties Union for New Hampshire brought a federal lawsuit against the state, on behalf of Langlois and two others — including Rep. Leon Rideout, a state lawmaker who proudly refuses to comply with the law against selfies.
See many #NH Residents Expressing pride N Voting & The Candidate they supported #Ballotselfie #1A #Northcountry pic.twitter.com/A9RzlabzSm
— Leon H Rideout (@RepRideout) February 10, 2016
Many said my #Ballotselfies R wrong because they were only of my ballot! Is this better ? #NHPolitics #NorthCountry pic.twitter.com/pbFUMb3Sl7
— Leon H Rideout (@RepRideout) March 9, 2016
An appeals court ultimately ruled that, yes, residents in the state of New Hampshire can post selfies while voting because posting them is an exercise of free speech — protected by the First Amendment.
So what's the problem with a selfie?
In the New Hampshire case, the state argued that photos could encourage vote buying and voter intimidation. In court filings, it said an employer could demand an employee to vote a certain way and then ask them to provide photographic evidence, with the threat of that person losing their job. That was the same concern expressed by a New York judge who recently ruled that ballot selfies are still considered illegal in New York.
"Without the statute [selfie ban], employers, unions, and religious groups could encourage their members to upload images of their marked ballots to a single location to prove their commitment to the designated candidate," Judge P. Kevin Castel said in his decision. "Those who declined to post a selfie could be swiftly outed and subjected to retaliation."
But the problems of voter coercion and vote buying are not resolved by banning ballot selfies, according to Gilles Bissonnette, legal director for the New Hampshire ACLU chapter.
Bissonnette worked on the New Hampshire case that ultimately ruled in favor of allowing ballot selfies. He said that, in court, the state failed to find examples of the problems they were concerned about, like vote buying. "The state of New Hampshire couldn't cite a single example of a person displaying their ballot to participate in vote buying or voter coercion," he told Mashable.
And there are other laws against vote buying and voter coercion that could be "aggressively" enforced so there's no need for selfie bans, Bissonnette added.
The selfies are considered "political speech" and thus receive heightened protection under the First Amendment, according to Bissonnette, who added that the selfies are also just a great modern way to celebrate your civic duty.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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