So you want to go all Justin Timberlake and post a picture of yourself with your ballot as you vote. Is that legal in Maine?

Justin got into some trouble for posting a selfie with this ballot in Tennessee where it's illegal to take pictures inside polling places. No charges were pressed, but it made people aware that there may be laws against it.

I'll fess up. I've taken a photo of my blank ballot in the booth before I filled it out. According to a story from WCSH 6, that's a misdemeanor in Maine. However, if it was filled out, then I'm good. There's no law against taking a photo of a completed ballot. What? That makes no sense. What's someone going to do with a crappy selfie of a ballot? Make copies and open their own polling place with them?

It appears that it comes down to this. If you want to take a selfie at the polls with your ballot, then there's no law preventing you from doing it as long as you have filled out your ballot. You should probably do it in the voting booth though to protect the privacy of other voters in the polling place.

Maybe this law on photos at polling places and of ballots will get flushed out a little better now that Snapchat and Instagram are a thing. The right to vote should come with the right to take a selfie in the booth.

 

 

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