New York 'Ballot Selfie' Ban Upheld By Federal Judge

NEW YORK CITY — A federal judge on Thursday upheld a state law banning "ballot selfies" despite free-speech objections from three New Yorkers. The law prohibiting voters from sharing pictures of their completed ballots helps maintain the integrity of secret votes, U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel wrote in a ruling dismissing a lawsuit aiming to get the law overturned.

The voters, Eve Silverberg, Jennifer Rebecca White and Michael Emperor, challenged the law in court last year, arguing that taking pictures of ballots is a "powerful political statement that demonstrates the importance of voting" protected by the First Amendment's free speech guarantees.

But Castel ruled that the law protects the states' interests in preventing election fraud and voter intimidation, which were big problems before the law took effect.

"The lack of evidence of widespread vote buying and voter intimidation in contemporary New York elections does not mean that the state no longer has a compelling interest in preventing these evils," Castel's ruling says.

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Leo Glickman, an attorney for the voters, told Patch he plans to appeal the ruling within the next month.

Ballot selfies became a trend ahead of last year's presidential election, with celebrities such as Justin Timberlake taking part. New York is among 18 states with laws strictly banning them, according to the Associated Press.

State election law makes showing a completed ballot to anyone else a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. The law makes no particular mention of photographs, but the Board of Elections says posting ballot photos to social media counts as a violation, according to the voters' lawsuit.

The three voters sued city and state officials in October 2016, less than two weeks before the presidential election. Federal courts in New Hampshire, Indiana and Michigan had found those states' ballot selfie bans unconstitutional, their lawsuit said.

New York is among 18 states with laws strictly banning ballot selfies, according to the Associated Press.

The New York City Law Department is "pleased with the ruling which upholds an important statute and (Board of Elections) policy intended to preserve the integrity of our voting process," a spokesman told the New York Daily News.

The plaintiffs are "disappointed" with Thursday's decision, Glickman told Patch. They hoped to get the law overturned in time for the Nov. 7 municipal elections, he said, but now hope an appeals court will strike it in time for the 2018 midterm elections.

"We disagree that preventing people from exercising their First Amendment rights will have a positive effect on preventing voter fraud," Glickman told Patch.

(Lead image by Janie Osborne/Getty Images)