Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I noticed that some of you are posting photos of your completed early ballots to Facebook and Twitter. This may run afoul of Arizona law.
A.R.S. § 16-1018 Additional unlawful acts by persons with respect to voting; classification, at paragraph (A) provides:
4. Shows the voter's ballot or the machine on which the voter has voted to any person after it is prepared for voting in such a manner as to reveal the contents, except to an authorized person lawfully assisting the voter.
I am not sure whether this provision has ever been tested in an Arizona court of law for posting a photo of your early ballot on Facebook or Twitter, or whether there is an Attorney General Opinion interpreting this provision of law.
You may recall that some Wisconsin officials got into trouble for doing this during the recent recall election. Officials in Wisconsin unwittingly break law using Facebook:
High-ranking members of both political parties were unaware that posting photos of completed ballots on Facebook or Twitter is illegal in Wisconsin, and they promised to quickly take down the posts Friday after election officials reminded voters of the law.
The law bars voters from showing their completed ballots to anyone. The intent is to prevent people from selling their votes and then showing their ballots as proof they voted as requested, Wisconsin Government Accountability Board spokesman Reid Magney said.
Be smart and just don't do it.
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