SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — You ask, we answer!

Question: Can I take a photo of my ballot?

In New York State, it depends on what the poll shows. According to the New York State Board of Elections, taking a photo of a empty voting is permitted.

“Taking a photo at the polling place or with a blank ballot is permitted, but voters should not disrupt poll workers or other voters,” a spokesperson for the New York State Board of Elections said in an email.

Here in New York, it’s illegal to take a photo of a completed ballot, showing who you voted for.

The New York State Board of Elections sent the following information on the topic:

New York State Election Law (17-130(10)) prohibits a voter from taking a photo of or with their completed ballot. The purpose of this law, instituted long before cell phones and personal cameras became the norm, was to prevent voter coercion/intimidation or vote buying (i.e. showing a completed ballot to prove that an individual voted in a certain way to another individual).

The language includes, “Whoever…shows his ballot paper after it has been prepared for voting, to any person in order to reveal its contents, or solicits a voter to show it…is guilty of an offence. »

At least 14 states have made it illegal take a voting selfie, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

Many New York lawmakers have attempted to change the current ballot photo law.

Senate Bill S661 was introduced in the 2023-2024 legislative session. The summary reads: “Allows voters to take photos of themselves and their ballot, or their absentee ballot, while in a voting booth, and to share and disseminate these photographs on social networks. »

The bill failed to make it out of committee.