Should Voters Be Allowed To Take “Ballot Selfies”?
A federal judge recently declared Michigan’s ballot exposure ban unconstitutional.
A court has denied a request to investigate Governor Rick Snyder in relation to the Flint Water Crisis, the Michigan Republican Party has decided against holding its usual Election Night Party, and the question of whether Michigan voters can take so-called “ballot selfies” on November 8th is working its way through the courts.
Rick Pluta is the state Capitol bureau chief for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He joins Detroit Today to explain these things.
“This ballot selfies ban does have its root in a serious problem,” says Pluta. “Going back to the late 1800s, it was not unheard of for powerful interests – often employers – to instruct people that they had some authority over that they had to vote a particular way and they had to prove it.”
Michigan law currently bans “ballot exposure,” but a federal judge recently declared that ban unconstitutional.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
