Eric Trump, son of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, tweeted a picture of his ballot in New York the morning of Election Day on November 8, 2016. The image included a filled in circle near Donald Trump’s name, showing Eric Trump selected his father as president. Eric captioned the tweet, “it is an incredible honor to vote for my father! He will do such a great job for the U.S.A!”
For a generation who constantly whips out their iPhones in order to document almost every daily task, taking heed when taking a voting selfie is probably a good idea. Depending on what state you live in, voting selfies may or may not be illegal. However, in New York, where Eric Trump documented his obvious political preference the law is crystal clear on the matter.
Unfortunately for Eric, Manhattan Federal Judge P. Kevin Castel shot down three New Yorker’s petition to snap ballot selfies on Election Day. In last Thursday’s 16-page decision, Judge Castel asserted that any “last minute, judicially imposed change in protocol would be a recipe for delays and a disorderly election” and not “in the public interest”. The Judge cited privacy and efficiency concerns around publicizing private ballots. Specifically, the Judge based his decision on election integrity that has been successful for the last 126 years of voting history.
New York, amongst sixteen other states, deems electioneering illegal, punishable as a misdemeanor carrying a $1,000.00 fine and up to a year in jail. The definition of “electioneering” varies state to state but generally includes a ban on acts or activities meant to solicit votes, advocate for a particular political candidate, and display candidates likeness, name or logo within a certain amount of feet of a polling place. Clearly, Eric Trump did not take a page out of Justin Timberlake’s book who was recently scrutinized after he snapped a voting selfie in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Though Timberlake’s actions are not under review by the district attorney, Tennessee law prohibits taking photographs or videos in polling places and punishes the violation of the law by a misdemeanor, carrying a penalty that could include 30 days in jail.
Someone in the Twitterverse must have let Eric know that his actions are illegal because the tweet has since been deleted, but not before it was published on various blogs online. So, some friendly advice: instead of publicizing your choice at the polls, post a meme about it like a normal person in 2016.
-Anna Rozman, ESQ
Director of Entertainment & Business Affairs– Lipton Legal Group, A PC – Beverly Hills, CA
See our inspiration for this story at: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/8/13563540/eric-trump-ballot-selfie-laws