Ballot selfie

A ballot selfie is a type of selfie that is intended to depict the photographer's completed ballot in an election, as a way of showing how the photographer cast their vote. Ballot selfies have risen in prominence alongside the increasing availability of smartphone digital cameras and the use of social media in the 21st century. They have also generated controversy as potential violations of laws enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to curtail vote buying, particularly in the United States, although some U.S. courts have rejected restrictions on ballot selfies as inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech.

Voters typically take and share ballot selfies to encourage others to vote, to demonstrate their civic involvement, and to express their choice of candidate.^[1] The selfie is often taken in or near a voting booth and the ballot paper is often marked. Others do not take pictures of themselves in the voting booth, but photograph their ballots (including absentee ballots) or the voting machines, either before or after filling them out.