Citizen media guidelines for election day

The Center for Citizen Media has a wealth of useful legal information for citizen journalists planning to document election day.

If you’re in California, you should note that picture taking at the polling place is clearly prohibited.

Cal Elec Code § 18541: Prohibited activities within 100 feet of polling place; Punishment for violation. (a) No person shall, with the intent of dissuading another person from voting, within 100 feet of a polling place, do any of the following: (3) Photograph, videotape, or otherwise record a voter entering or exiting a polling place.

UPDATE:  I just re-read this post in a differet light … and now wonder if it is so clear that citizen media, or any media, is prohibited from photographing or videotaping polling.  The key phrase above is “intent of dissuading.”  Legitimate journalistic activities have no such intention.  That said, if I were a blogger with no media organization behind me to pay my legal bills, I’m not sure I would want to be a test case.

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