What kind of self absorbed person would feel the need to take a selfie with their ballot?
Oh…never mind. It’s 2016.
Such laws are clearly in violation of the First Amendment which is why Federal courts across the country are striking them down.
More troubling is why a law would be passed.
Ballots are not secret and our voting records (that we voted, not who we voted for) are a matter of public record. The only explanation I can think of a fear that such selfies will encourage millennials to vote.
Am I missing something?
One who takes pride in doing their duty as a citizen and in exercising one of the most important rights and responsibilities of citizenship? I mean what exactly makes this different then walking around all day with an “I Voted” sticker on ones chest?
Nope, the reason Timberlake did the voting selfie is to encourage young people to vote, to start a trend where young people will go vote so they can post the selfie later. I’m on board for whatever encourages young folks to get their asses to the polls.
As am I. I voted early yesterday and a little miffed I didn’t do the same…not that my minor celebrity will encourage others. But it is a positive trend if everyone does it.
I agree with you about First Amendment protection, but one worry is that it makes “buying” votes (i.e., paying someone in some fashion for voting a certain way) verifiable, and hence more of a viable possibility.
I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would want to take a photograph of themselves.
This is my worry; without hard proof vote buying and/or interpersonal coercion (i.e. spousal, parental) don’t really work; with these photos it’s very possible. Even considering the First Amendment I have mixed feelings about legalizing this.
I think they are trying to keep you from being able to take a picture of another person’s ballot. That would be the only thing that to me needs to be prohibited. It could easily be done with as open an area as I encountered in the voting facility where I went, similar to this one
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/jt72mq/picture99794992/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/IMG_DURHAMVOTING3-NE-031_2_1_AU7HKDQ9_L204778069
I believe that yesterday’s Fresh Air podcast (Rigging An Election) mentioned that same concern.
I´d never thought about the spousal/familial pressure angle - that is a worry. I was more thinking of the $5 given out to someone who shows a selfie with ¨Joe Smith¨ penciled in. That sort of fraud could happen very easily on the local level, and it wouldn´t take much money to have an impact on, say, a primary. In Chicago a lot of elections were bought with a free lunch, B.S. (Before Selfies).
@dannysgrandma Thanks! Hadn´t listened to it, will check it out.
I agree. If you’re only showing yourself, and only showing your ballot, then what’s the harm?
In an age where Millennials are constantly accused of political apathy, I wish that more of them took the time to snap a selfie at the polls, so long as they don’g violate anyone else’s privacy in doing so.
It depends on the reason you’re doing it. If you’re doing it because your macho hubby told you you’d better vote for Trump and prove it with a pic or he’ll beat the snot out of you… well, not so great. If you’re doing it because someone is quietly going around and offering $ for proof of voting for a particular candidate, or for an employer who demands that their (note singular use there) employees all vote for the employer’s choice. It used to happen quite a lot, especially the vote buying and employer coercion-- no one can count the spousal coercions-- before ballot secrecy was mandated to prevent just that. Now that’s being relaxed, given the new technology. Vote buying and voter coercion are bad for everyone. It’s another dilemma as our society evolves.