California Lawmaker Wants Ballot Selfies Legalized

In a day and age when we (over)share nearly all the minutia of our lives on social media, it's no wonder many people may instinctively try to switch on their phone's front camera, pull out their ballot and saaay cheeeeeese upon voting. But not so fast.

Here in California, it's currently illegal to show anyone— let alone the Internet— a marked ballot. In fact, you're not even allowed to snap a photo of any voters within 100 feet of a polling place.

However, a Bay Area politician is trying to change that.

“The First Amendment right to political speech must be protected and antiquated laws must be corrected,” said Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin County). “California law should encourage voter pride, political speech, and civic engagement through social media. Laws prohibiting this activity were written before sharing digital images over the internet was ubiquitous. It is time to update those laws to reflect technology and the world in which we now live.”

Levine first introduced AB 1494 in Feb. 2015. But as the election cycle heats up, the piece of legislation is getting more attention— and just cleared the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments earlier this month. Now, it heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Levine defines a ballot selfie as a digital image of a voter’s ballot and says his proposed bill would allow California voters to take said ballot selfies and post them on social media, like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram without fear of prosecution. He says that as California law currently stands, it's unconstitutional.

"...Recent federal district court decisions indicate that this California law is likely unconstitutional as it denies voters their First Amendment right of free speech," Levine said on his website.

"The courts ruled that laws in New Hampshire and Indiana banning disclosure of one’s ballot are unconstitutional," he continued. "The courts found that the ballot selfie is a form of political speech that can be restricted only by meeting the highest standard of constitutional scrutiny."

“A voter’s right to secrecy under the California Constitution must in no way diminish a voter’s right to political speech,” he added.

Tell us what YOU think. Should a voter be allowed to post a photo of themselves voting in the form of a ballot selfie? Let us know in the comments below!