Trump or Harris 2024: Ballot selfies are illegal in 13 states. Is yours like this?

In the age of social media, it’s not unusual for voters to take photos with their ballots at polling booths across the country, but in some states, taking a “selfie” against the law and offenders may even face jail time.

According to recent report According to the nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government, ballot selfies are illegal in 13 states, and seven states have laws against taking selfies at polling places, but not for mail-in or absentee voting.

“State laws that ban voting selfies are stupid and pointless. More importantly, they are unconstitutional,” former attorney and adjunct law professor Gregg Jarrett told Fox News Digital.

“Government laws like these are outdated and have nothing to do with election integrity.”

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Two voters take a selfie after leaving a polling place Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Stockbridge, Georgia. (Associated Press)

Before the secret ballot, which was introduced in the United States in the late 19th century to curb fraud, bribery and voter intimidation, voters cast their ballots in a clear glass ball, according to Congressional Research Institute.

After secret ballots were introduced, state laws were created to protect voter privacy, but many states have not amended their laws to keep up with modern technology such as smartphones and the rise of social media.

“The notion that ballot selfies somehow undermine laws prohibiting voter coercion or ballot purchasing has no evidence,” Jarrett said. “There is no credible evidence that this has anything to do with voter intimidation. How exactly does this constitute voter fraud, as some states claim? This is wrong”.

Some states prohibit voters from posting selfies after voting.

Some states like New York and South Carolina make it a misdemeanor to take a voting selfie, and in South Carolina, a law banning photographing ballots shows violators could face up to a year in prison. Fox Carolina reported this.

Other states, such as New Jersey, are more lenient in their enforcement. Take a selfie to vote technically prohibited In New Jersey, Secretary of State spokeswoman Trudy Gilfilian said poll workers could simply ask people to stop if they are caught taking selfies in a booth and not enforce the law if they discover images posted on social media.

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Voters cast their ballots during early voting in Michigan on Oct. 29, 2024, in Dearborn. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

“While it is true that citizens have a right to privacy in the voting booth, and the law protects their privacy whenever they vote in secret, people can waive this right to privacy by publicly disclosing how they voted,” – Jarrett noted. “For example, you can tell friends or even publish your choice on social networks or other means of communication.

” First Amendment reserves the right to freedom of speech to express its voting preferences both before and after voting. Taking a photo and posting a selfie to vote is just another form of the same kind of free expression.”

Over the years, courts in Georgia, New Hampshire and Indiana have either struck down or banned laws banning selfies on the ballot, and most recently, a federal judge in North Carolina ordered a district attorney not to prosecute a voter who challenged the state’s selfie ban on the ballot papers. , This was reported by the Carolina Journal.

After taking a photo with her completed March 2024 primary ballot and sharing it on social media, the voter “received a letter from the North Carolina State Board of Elections demanding that she remove her voting selfie and threats of criminal prosecution,” she said. lawyers wrote to court documents.

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A man reads election materials before voting on the last day of early voting, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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“Political speech, including photographs, is constitutionally protected communication,” Jarrett said.

“Many states recognize these common sense arguments and therefore allow selfies because it is consistent with our free speech principles.”