The state of New Hampshire is appealing a decision that allows voters to take pictures inside voting booths. It would like to join other U.S. states that have banned any voting booth documentation in the form of digital images or photography being shared on social media or otherwise. In other words: No selfies with your ballot. “It’s natural that people — particularly young people who are participating in the democratic process —want to make a record of their specific act of casting a ballot,” John Hardin Young, Chair of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Election Law, told VOA. “That can include taking a photograph with their phone of the actual ballot face as it’s marked. In a way, we are really at loggerheads. On the one hand, we want everyone to participate. On the other, we do want to make sure that the ballot box remains secret.”
The secret ballot has long been perceived as an integral part of the U.S. democratic system, protecting voters from criticism or peer pressure and allowing them to fulfill their democratic privilege in private.
Many states, such as New Hampshire, believe that documentation of ballots may promote an uptick in voter fraud and buying votes — allowing companies or individuals to force paid voters to give confirmation that they completed their “job.”
But a federal judge ruled in 2015 that New Hampshire could not ban photography in the voting booth.
Full Article: Should Selfies Be Allowed in US Voting Booths?.