Can I moblog my ballot?

October 25, 2006 4:32 PM

Could I possibly get in trouble for snapping a picture of my ballot/voting screen with my phonecam?

For personal reasons (not anything political or protest-y) I'd like to snap a picture of either my ballot or the screen where I place my vote for Governor when I vote. Is this frowned upon or even illegal?

Pertinent information: I'll be doing early voting in Dallas County, TX.

Also: I do plan on asking the people working at the poll, but I can't say I'll have full confidence in them and if this is verifiably legal, I'd like to be able to show them something saying as much.

posted by Ufez Jones to Law & Government (9 answers total)

try asking these folks
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:38 PM on October 25, 2006

I wouldn't be surprised if it were frowned upon, since the "snap a picture of your ballot with your phonecam" has been used in vote-buying schemes as proof you voted the way you were paid to.
posted by adamrice at 4:40 PM on October 25, 2006

There might not be anything making this illegal, but I doubt there is anything making it affirmatively legal. The result would be to make it easy for voters to obtain written confirmation of who they voted for, and voting systems frown on that because such a receipt can too easily become a currency. ("Go vote for me and bring me back proof and I'll give you $100.") So I suspect this is not something that is intended to be legal.

But if you do it quietly behind the voting curtain, no one will catch you.

Having worked polls before, I would bet money the poll workers will have no clue if this sort of thing is allowed. I wouldn't even try asking.
posted by raf at 4:42 PM on October 25, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the link, MSN. I'll copy and paste my question here to them as soon as I get back from taking the dog for a walk.

I hadn't even thought of the vote-selling aspect, as that idea seems so antiquated to me, but it does merit thought.
posted by Ufez Jones at 5:03 PM on October 25, 2006

In several jurisdictions, taking pictures in a polling place is prohibited. The Election Day Law project should be able to research the answer for your area, or you can look up your state and county's election code yourself.
posted by zachlipton at 5:23 PM on October 25, 2006

Why not go straight to the horse's mouth? Call the Dallas County Elections Department at [phone] and ask them.
posted by Robert Angelo at 6:26 PM on October 25, 2006

Their web site at www.dalcoelections.org appears to be down right now...
posted by Robert Angelo at 6:27 PM on October 25, 2006

In these days of electronic-no-receipt-giving Diebold machines, I'd raise a furious stink if they didn't let me take a picture of my intended vote.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:19 PM on October 25, 2006

Response by poster: Just in case anyone is checking back in, I found this on Flickr today (I'll be voting Thursday, and will post back here with...well, something).
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:00 PM on October 30, 2006