Sharing A Ballot On Social Media

A measure before the Hawaii Legislature would allow voters to distribute or share an electronic or digital image of the voter’s own marked ballot.

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Is there nothing that can’t be shared online?

Senate Bill 2242, which has a hearing Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee at the Hawaii State Capitol, would allow a voter to distribute or share an electronic or digital image of the voter’s own marked ballot via social media or other means.

The measure recognizes that the prevalence of electronic mobile devices and social media applications and platforms “increases the opportunities for people to display their marked ballot.”

Voters casting their ballots at Kawananakoa Middle School on August 9, 2014
Voters casting ballots at Kawananakoa Middle School in 2014. Cory Lum/Civil Beat

No one has yet testified in support or opposition to the measure.

But Chief Election Officer Scott Nago recommended language to ensure that taking “a ballot selfie” while at a polling place not be done in such a way as to try and influence the voting of others.

Nago notes that the law does not allow people to declare how they voted at the polling place or to remove a ballot from a polling place.

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