Election 2012 ballot photos legal? Find out if you're allowed to take a photo of your ballot

Faced with a loud and angry backlash from some of its most active users, photo-sharing app Instagram backtracked Tuesday on new language that appeared to give the company ownership of their images.
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Posted: 11/06/2012

By: Mollie Reynolds

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's something you didn't hear us discuss four years ago: ballot photography.

Today, many of you probably brought your smartphone into the voting booth with you. But did you know it's illegal to snap a picture of your ballot?

According to Florida's Polling Place Procedures Manual, photography inside your polling precinct is not permitted. Florida is one of several states that bans photography in polling places.

It is unclear whether states would actually prosecute someone for posting a shot to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. A NewsChannel 5 search found no record of arrests for ballot photography or what a fine for taking a photo would be.

In the age of smartphones, it's something that could present a new problem for voting officials.

For the laws in the rest of the states, go to the Citizen Media Law Project site at http://www.citmedialaw.org/state-law-documenting-vote-2012 . Because there is no single, national law regulating polling place activities, it is difficult to generalize about what you can and cannot do on Election Day.

wcpo.com contributed to this report