The TicketSean Hannity might have broken law by posting ballot pic
Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity posted a picture of his election ballot on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
That led the liberal news site ThinkProgress to suggest that Hannity might have violated New York State law, which says a voter may be charged with a misdemeanor if he or she publicly displays a completed ballot. Specifically, New York Election Law 17-130 states:
10. Shows his ballot after it is prepared for voting, to any person so as to reveal the contents, or solicits a voter to show the same; or,
11. Places any mark upon his ballot, or does any other act in connection with his ballot with the intent that it may be identified as the one voted by him; or,
12. Places any mark upon, or does any other act in connection with a ballot or paster ballot, with the intent that it may afterwards be identified as having been voted by any particular person;
Hannity acknowledged the incident live during his radio program on Tuesday, telling his audience: "I learned a big civics lesson today. … I took a picture of my vote and I tweeted it out, and then I heard it's not allowed." He said, "So I had to. I deleted it. Whoops! I didn't know, I really didn't, honestly."
He has also deleted the photo and post from his Twitter account, which has nearly 600,000 followers.
Hannity isn't the only person guilty of sharing his choices for public office. A Pew Research Center survey found that about 22 percent of all U.S. voters plan to share their selections on social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter.
Other well-known figures, including Kim Kardashian, have posted pictures of their ballots. But sharing a photo of your incomplete mail in-ballot appears to be within the legal bounds.
