When you head to the polls to vote this November, you are now officially allowed to take a “ballot selfie.”
The Butler County Commissioners unanimously passed a new policy on Wednesday that permits voters to take cell phones inside voting precincts and snap a picture of themselves after they’ve cast a ballot.
The policy prohibits people from taking photos or videos of other voters and their ballots.
The county previously had a policy in place prohibiting the use of cell phones inside precincts. Now, you can use your phone to check messages or take calls, but only if it does not delay or distract from the voting process and it’s away from the voting machines…unless you’re taking a selfie.
The policy reads- in part-, “Mobile phones and similar devices may be carried and used inside the polling place on Election Day, but their use cannot delay or distract from the orderly process of voting. The Judge of Elections may ask a voter, water, or election worker to cease the use of a mobile device if such use causes delay or distraction.”
The commissioners say the new measure is a reaction to federal court case decisions and guidelines from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office that permit “ballot selife” practices.
“There have been a lot of court cases on it,” Mike English, county solicitor, said Wednesday.
The policy reads, “Federal courts have ruled that voters have a First Amendment right to take a “selfie” photograph at the voting machine while casting their ballot, but all other photographs or recordings inside a polling place are prohibited.”
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