Can I take a selfie while voting in California? Snap a picture of my ballot? What law says
Voting is in full swing in California for the 2024 presidential election.
Eligible California voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day — Tuesday, Nov. 5 — to vote in person or drop off their mail-in ballots.
As you head to your nearest vote center, you may be wondering: Is it legal to snap a selfie with your ballot?
Many states have specific rules about taking pictures of ballots, according to digital elections encyclopedia Ballotpedia, and California is no exception.
Here is what you need to know before pulling out your phone or camera in California:
Can I take a picture of my California ballot while voting?
Under California law, voters are allowed to take pictures of their own ballots.
California Elections Code section 14291 allows a voter to “voluntarily disclose how he or she voted if that voluntary act does not violate any other law.”
“A voter may take a photograph of their ballot — a ‘ballot selfie’ — and share it on social media,” Robbie Anderson, elections counsel to the California Secretary of State, wrote in a Jan. 11 memorandum to county elections officers.
However, there are some restrictions on the “use of cameras in and outside of the polling place,” Anderson said in the memorandum.
Anderson said elections officials must ensure that such activity “does not interfere with voting, is not intimidating to any voters or election workers, and that the privacy of voters is not compromised.”
Limits on ballot selfies include prohibitions on:
Unauthorized sharing of and use of information relating to how a person voted.
Soliciting or receiving consideration for voting, or refraining from voting, for any particular candidate or measure.
Interference with the conduct of elections and with the duties of election workers.
Intimidation of voters
Compromising the privacy of other voters casting a ballot
Under California law, the voting process needs to remain “private and free from any form of intimidation or coercion,” the memorandum said.
Where are you allowed to snap a ballot selfie in US?
In the United States, ballot selfies were allowed in a total of 25 states as of September 2024, according to Ballotpedia.
Those include Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii and Washington state.
Where is shooting photos of your ballot illegal?
Shooting a photo of a ballot is illegal in 16 states, including Alaska and Nevada, Ballotpedia said, and it’s unclear if snapping ballot selfies is acceptable in six others.
Four states — Arizona, West Virginia, Tennessee and Texas — only allow voters to take pictures of mail-in or absentee ballots.
Texas‘s Election Code prohibits “wireless communication and recording equipment within 100 feet of a voting site,” the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
This story was originally published November 2, 2024 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Can I take a selfie while voting in California? Snap a picture of my ballot? What law says."
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