Eager to snap and post an online photo of your Michigan ballot in the Nov. 6 election? Think again. A legal dispute over photos in polling places still hasn’t reached the finish line, more than two years later. A millennial voter from the Kalamazoo area, Joel Crookston, filed a lawsuit deep in the 2016 election season to try to stop Michigan’s ban on taking photos of marked ballots or publicly exposing them. A violation can disqualify a ballot. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff granted an injunction, clearing the way for so-called ballot selfies. But a higher court stepped in and said the sudden change just days before the Trump-Clinton election would be a “recipe for election-day confusion for voters and poll workers alike.”
The litigation between Crookston and the secretary of state is unfinished while another major election approaches in a few weeks. It means voters who want to tell social media followers about their choice for Michigan governor or legalizing marijuana will need to use words — not a picture of their ballot.
“It’s surprising how the wheels of justice, as they say, have turned pretty slowly,” said Crookston, 34, of Portage, who believes the ban violates his rights to free speech and due process.
Full Article: 2-plus years later, lawsuit over ballot selfies not over.