Is it legal to photo and post my ballot?

In follow up to my earlier post, misty-anne wrote. “I don’t know if it applies to mail-in ballots, but wasn’t there a big thing about people taking pictures of theirs at the voting booths and invalidating their votes?”

The answer is of course complicated by the different voting regulations in each of the states. In Arizona it is legal for me to photo my mail-in ballot and post the image to social media. In other states ballot photographs are explicitly illegal. In general, states that prohibit ballot selfies claim that the practice might intimidate and violate the privacy of other voters at the polling place. In some states there is no state-wide policy, and voters with cameras must contend with the whim of local poll workers.

For the 2016 election Business Insider posted a state-by-state guide to the question of ballot selfies, though there are likely changes not reflected in the linked article. If anyone knows of a more current summary I’ll be pleased to update this post.

Is it legal to photo and post my ballot?

Vote!

I just finished my mail-in ballot for the November 6 General Election. The ballot for my district in Arizona comprised 77 choices: federal and state offices, local school board representatives and school funding initiatives, 52 retain or recall votes for state judges, five propositions, and votes on representation in state water and community college commissions. It was a daunting task. I can’t imagine walking into a voting booth on my way to work on November 6 and tackling this ballot. It took me almost two hours to complete, and I already knew how I was going to vote on the most prominent races and referendums.

I am in my 60′s, and with one exception I have voted in every election I was eligible to participate in. The one I missed was a primary election, and I was in the hospital on election day. I take this stuff very seriously. There are clear anti-democratic tendencies in the ways the United States conducts elections. The Electoral College system skews and distorts popular votes (to sometimes horrific result); foreign powers interfere; districts are wildly and improbably gerrymandered; people are systematically disenfranchised and turned away from the polls by the bus load. The degree of election ratfucking is sometimes astonishing to me.

And yet, I still think my vote matters. I have been tempted by anguish and cynicism (I’m thinking about you, November 7, 2000, and you, November 8, 2016), but the disastrous outcomes can be the best impetus to not give up, to make sure you are resisting, and exerting your will in the voting booth – every time!