Fourth Circuit brings North Carolina ballot selfie ban into focus

A Fourth Circuit panel heard arguments Tuesday over whether North Carolina's ban on ballot photography violates the First Amendment, after Susan Hogarth sued over being told to take down a selfie of her marked primary ballot. She later got a court order allowing her alone to photograph her ballot, only to be stopped by polling place staff anyway until the state elections board confirmed her exemption.

Hogarth's attorney argued the ban criminalizes lawful political speech and extends even to photographing an absentee ballot at home. The state countered that the restriction targets the mechanics of voting, not the message, and exists to prevent vote buying and coercion schemes that rely on proof of how someone actually voted.

The panel, including a Trump appointee who pressed the state on whether the ballot itself counts as a speech forum, did not indicate when it would rule. A lower court had already sided with the state earlier this year, and absentee voting is already underway in North Carolina for the midterms.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.