Want to show off your ballot with a selfie? You can! However, don't hit 'send' just yet.
As of January 1, 2017, California voters can take a selfie with their marked ballot and share it on social media. California Elections Code section 14291, which was approved by Governor Jerry Brown and filed with the Secretary of State in September 2016, allows voters to "disclose how he or she voted if that voluntary act does not violate any other law."
In a memo sent on May 4 regarding cameras at polling places, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said that voters should still be "mindful" when taking their ballot selfies. The memo states that the limits of ballot selfies include:
- 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.
- Interfering with the conduct of elections and with the duties of election workers.
- Intimidating voters.
- Compromising the privacy of other voters casting a ballot.
Before January 2017, it was a felony to "interfere with the secrecy of voting."
Full memo from Secretary of State Alex Padilla:
Another important thing to note is that if you are in line by the time polling closes (8 p.m.), you can still vote. Any voter (including a voter dropping off a vote-by-mail ballot) who is in line at 8:00 p.m. when the polls are scheduled to close is allowed to vote.
