‘Ballot selfies’ now allowed under preliminary injunction

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indiana judge has granted a preliminary injunction that will allow “ballot selfies” at the polls.

Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker signed the order on Monday.

In her conclusion, Barker wrote that Indiana code “embodies a content-based restriction on speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny because it neither serves compelling state interests nor is narrowly tailored to achieve those interests.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Indiana Secretary of State, members of the Indiana Election Commission and the superintendent of the Indiana State Police.

The ACLU argued that July 1 legislation that banned digital photographs of ballots and sharing them on social media was a first amendment violation. Under Indiana code, doing so would be a level six felony.