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Taking a Ballot Selfie? Think Again


Justin Timberlake's Facebook post, showing that he flew to Tennessee to cast his vote early.
Justin Timberlake's Facebook post, showing that he flew to Tennessee to cast his vote early.

In the age that encourages people to document their lives using selfies, some voters can likely find themselves on the wrong side of the law on election day.

20 states where ballot selfies are legal:

Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington state and Wyoming.

17 states where ballot selfies are illegal:

Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

6 states where ballot selfies' legality is mixed:

Arizona: Bars photography within 75 feet of polling places. But allows posting of early ballots on social media.

Iowa: Law prohibits the use of cameras, cellphones or other electronic devices in voting booths but photos of absentee ballots are OK.

Maryland: Bans electronic devices in a polling place, but photos of mailed ballots are OK.

Tennessee: Voters are not allowed to take photos or videos while in polling places. The state's law doesn't address mail-in ballots.

Texas: Bars photography within 100 feet of polling stations, but photos of mail-in ballots are OK.

West Virginia: Electronic devices are banned inside voting booths. Nothing in the law prohibits photos of mail-in ballots.

7 states where ballot selfies' legality is unclear:

Arkansas, California, Delaware, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania

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