With Election Day fast approaching, your Facebook feed is about to be chock-full of “ballot selfies” – but, even though your friends are just trying to push their political agenda down your throat show everyone how important voting is, their pics are actually illegal.
You may have heard that lawmakers in California passed a law that would allow for voters to take a pic or two of them voting – but, because having the new law start before the election would make sense, the wise elected officials in Sacramento have the new law going into effect on January 1st because, well, no one knows.
As the LA Times reports, the ACLU of California is currently suing California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, saying that it’s concerned that banning the photos is taking away a person’s right to free speech.
“This is an incredibly contentious election. Thousands of our members want to engage in this core political speech, and not just show people how they are voting but try to encourage others to vote the same way,” Michael Risher, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, said in a statement. “On November 9, it will be too late for them to do that.”
Though it might really all be for nothing anyway, the law banning sharing one’s marked ballot has been around for 125 years and has not even once been enforced.
