Politics

It's Illegal to Instagram Your Ballot in Florida, FYI

It's Election Day, which means your Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook feeds are full of pictures of people waiting in long lines to vote, their shiny new "I Voted" stickers, and, occasionally, their actual ballots.So, as a friendly reminder, we'd just like to reiterate that it's totally illegal in Florida...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

November 6, 2012

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It's Election Day, which means your Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook feeds are full of pictures of people waiting in long lines to vote, their shiny new "I Voted" stickers, and, occasionally, their actual ballots.

So, as a friendly reminder, we'd just like to reiterate that it's totally illegal in Florida to record anything going on in a polling place.

As stated in Florida Statute 102.031, "No photography is permitted in the polling room or early voting area."

Laws are different from state to state on the matter, and the Citizen Media Law Project has a rundown on all fifty states. But, yes, in Florida it's totally illegal to whip out your iPhone and snap some pictures in the polling site of your marked ballot.

Considering this is Florida, we highly recommend you fight your deep urge to Instagram every moment of your life and keep your phone's camera off.

You don't want to create any more problems than necessary.

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