If the court concurs, you won’t have to sneak an otherwise illegal selfie on election day anymore, so long as your selfie is of your ballot alone and taken while you are in the voting booth. However, all other restrictions will remain in place.
Subject to court approval, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says today she has settled a federal lawsuit challenging Michigan’s restrictions on ballot photography, often referred to as “ballot selfies.”
Under the settlement, in which both parties to the suit agreed to dismiss the case, voters will be allowed to take a photograph of their own ballot but only while in the voting booth. The agreement doesn’t affect other prohibitions on photography in the area where voting is occurring or sharing ballot images within 100 feet from the polling place, which is the buffer zone where electioneering is prohibited.
Benson says, “We reached a resolution that allows voters to have a full opportunity to express themselves, while at the same time ensuring that voters retain the ability to vote in private and without disruption or discomfort.” She adds, “As Michigan’s chief election officer, I am committed to policies that encourage and support voter participation and engagement, along with elections that run smoothly and securely.”
The agreement was made prior to yesterday’s May election but wasn’t submitted to the court and released publicly until today, Wednesday, May 8th to prevent confusion during the May 7th election. The Bureau of Elections will revise instructions on ballot photography prior to the August 6th election.
The case, Crookston v. Johnson, was filed in 2016 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids. Benson became the defendant in the case upon taking office in January. The state attorney general’s office represented the secretary of state in the case.
Attorney General Dana Nessel says, “Secretary Benson’s revised instruction regarding ballot photography is uniquely within the secretary’s purview in her role as the state’s chief election officer and supervisor of local election officials,” and concludes, “The revised instruction directly led to settlement of this case. The instruction, which allows limited ballot photography but not ‘ballot selfies’ or other photography, strikes an appropriate balance between the freedom of speech and the need to protect the secrecy of the ballot and the decorum of the polling place.”
Under the settlement agreement, voters will be allowed to take a photograph of their own ballot but only while they are within the voting booth. The settlement doesn’t change existing prohibitions on individuals:
- Taking “selfies” of themselves, either in the voting booth or anywhere within the area where people are voting.
- Taking any other type of photograph within the area where people are voting.
- Sharing images of a voted ballot within 100 feet from the polling place – the buffer zone where electioneering is prohibited.
A copy of today’s court filing is available by clicking this link: BallotSelfieCourtResolution
