If you are so excited about voting in the fall elections that you are planning on snapping a selfie while performing your civic duty to post on social media, there’s something you should know.
For starters, you may be asking yourself why anyone would want to take a selfie in a voting booth. Some folks may just want to promote voting on Facebook and Twitter or mark an occasion. Officials in New Hampshire, meanwhile, are worried voters will use the photos as a way to sell their votes, so they banned such selfies, although a federal judge has ruled the law unconstitutional, according to recent coverage from The Washington Post.
But what of Louisiana? State law states “no person shall knowingly, willfully, or intentionally; as a voter, election official, watcher or person assisting a voter, allow a ballot to be seen, except as provided by law.”
The question was posed more directly to Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who cited the law and remarked via email, “That said, the law was obviously written before the advent of social media and the ballot selfie. I remind voters that their vote is private unless they publicly disclose it. The bottom line for me, is Geaux Vote!”
—Jeremy Alford
