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Ballot Selfies Still Prohibited in California and Michigan

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3.Nov, 2016 Comments Off on Ballot Selfies Still Prohibited in California and Michigan , , Election Administration

Ballot Selfies Still Prohibited in California and Michigan

Despite recent legal challenges, ballot selfies are still prohibited in California and Michigan.

 

The ballot selfie ban in California will be revoked on January 1 but will remain in effect next Tuesday:

 

A federal judge has denied the ACLU’s request for California voters to be allowed to take and share “ballot selfies” when they go to the polls Tuesday.

Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court of Northern California said he was denying the ACLU’s request because of the “lateness of the request” and to avoid the risk of confusing voters.

The civil rights group filed the suit against Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Monday, saying it was concerned about the “chilling effect” the ban could have on voters’ free speech. A new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this year will repeal California’s ban on sharing photos of marked ballots, but it doesn’t take effect until January 1.

 

The ballot selfie ban in Michigan was struck down early last week but reinstated by the Sixth Circuit at the end of the week:

 

A federal appeals court has reinstated Michigan’s ban on voters taking photographs of their ballots at polling precincts on Election Day.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted a stay of a lower court’s ruling that temporarily lifted the ban on so-called “ballot selfies.”

In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court halted U.S. District Judge Janet Neff’s injunction issued four days ago in favor of Joel Crookston of Portage, who sued the state in September to get a 125-year-old state law banning photography at the ballot box tossed.

Court of Appeals Judges Ralph B. Guy Jr. and Jeffrey S. Sutton said they wouldn’t “accept (Crookston’s) invitation to suddenly alter Michigan’s venerable voting protocols” with just 10 days before Election Day and 32 days after Crookston filed his lawsuit.


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