Skip to main content

Selfie snappers, the ‘ballot selfie’ ban in New Hampshire is no more

Selfie addicts in New Hampshire, all is OK. Your November 8 ballot selfie will not get you into trouble with the authorities.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that the state’s ban on voters snapping photos of their ballot and sharing them on social media is unconstitutional.

Recommended Videos

It’s a big win for the state’s selfie snappers, as well as Snapchat, which in April threw its weight behind the legal challenge brought by three New Hampshire voters who’d ignored the ban during a September 2014 primary.

The state had argued that ballot selfies could lead to fraud where, for example, a voter is coerced into voting for a particular candidate and then using methods such as social media to prove their selection. Violating the New Hampshire law could’ve resulted in a fine of up to $1,000.

But this week’s unanimous ruling, brought by a three-judge panel of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, decided that New Hampshire authorities had no compelling proof that selfies snapped in the ballot booth led to vote buying or voter coercion, and so declared the ban unconstitutional.

In its ruling, the appeals court said that digital photography, the internet, and social media “are not unknown quantities – they have been ubiquitous for several election cycles, without being shown to have the effect of furthering vote buying or voter intimidation.”

It added that despite the relatively long existence of digital photography and “small cameras,” New Hampshire authorities “cannot identify a single complaint of vote buying or intimidation related to a voter’s publishing a photograph of a marked ballot during that period.”

In documents submitted by Snapchat earlier this year supporting the challenge to New Hampshire’s selfie ban, the social media company insisted the ballot selfie “captures the very essence of [the political] process as it happens – the pulled lever, the filled-in bubble, the punched-out chad – and thus dramatizes the power that one person has to influence our government.” It also claimed that ballot selfies help to encourage younger voters to engage in the political process.

New Hampshire officials are reportedly reviewing this week’s ruling and could take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It’s worth noting that no federal law addresses the issue of ballot selfies, meaning selfie shooters should check local rules should they feel compelled to snap a self-portrait during their next visit to the ballot booth.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to deactivate your Instagram account (or delete it)
A person holding a phone with the Instagram app open on it.

Oh, social media. Sometimes it’s just too much, folks.

If you’re finding yourself in a position where shutting down your Instagram account for a period of time sounds good, the people at Meta have made it pretty simple to deactivate it. It’s also quite easy to completely delete your Instagram, although we wouldn’t recommend this latter option if you plan on returning to the platform at a later date.

Read more
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Incogni: Recover your privacy and remove personal information from the internet
Incogni remove your personal data from brokers and more

Everything you do while online is tracked digitally. Often connected to your email address or an issued IP, trackers can easily identify financial details, sensitive information like your social security number, demographics, contact details, like a phone number or address, and much more. In many ways, this information is tied to a digital profile and then collated, recorded, and shared via data brokers. There are many ways this information can be scooped up and just as many ways, this information can be shared and connected back to you and your family. The unfortunate reality is that, for most of us, we no longer have any true privacy.

The problem is exacerbated even more if you regularly use social media, share content or images online, or engage in discussions on places like Reddit or community boards. It's also scary to think about because even though we know this information is being collected, we don't necessarily know how much is available, who has it, or even what that digital profile looks like.

Read more