Selfies a "Threat to Democracy," Law Prof Says

A New Hampshire federal court’s decision to strike down a state ban on taking selfies with a marked voting ballot is a “huge mistake,” according to University of Irvine law professor Richard L. Hasen. The court found that the selfie ban violated the First Amendment right to free speech, but opened voters up to “potential coercion from employers, union bosses, and others,” Hasen writes. When America adopted its secret ballot system it made vote buying and coercion difficult, and unlike other voter tampering procedures under the secret ballot system, selfies with a marked ballot serve as proof of how someone voted. “The social-media age gives people plenty of tools for political self-expression,” Hasen writes. “New Hampshire’s law is a modest way to make sure that this patriotic expression does not give anyone the tools to corrupt the voting process.”