INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge who’s considering a lawsuit challenging an Indiana law that prohibits voters from photographing their election ballots and sharing those images on social media seemed critical of the law during a hearing on that complaint.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued the state in August over the new law. The group contends the law violates voters’ First Amendment rights.
The Indianapolis Star reports U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker asked the state’s attorney during Tuesday’s hearing to explain why voters should be punished for taking harmless photographs of their ballot.
A deputy Indiana attorney general, Dennis Mullen, told the judge the law’s intent is to maintain the integrity of the ballot by removing a tool that could be used to commit voter fraud.