North Carolina voters who like to show off their civic pride online will have to keep doing it without a shot of their filled-in ballot. A federal judge in Raleigh on Monday rejected a First Amendment challenge to the state’s ban on photographing completed ballots, ruling that the restrictions are a reasonable way to prevent vote buying and coercion. U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan granted summary judgment to state and local election officials and dismissed the suit filed by Libertarian voter Susan Hogarth. Hogarth had posted a photo of herself holding her ballot during the March 2024 primary and later was warned by election officials to delete the post. The order leaves the statutes in place for both in-person voting and absentee ballots as the state heads into another election cycle.
Judge's Ruling And Reasoning
As reported by Courthouse News, Flanagan sided with the defendants and entered a 15-page order dismissing Hogarth’s First Amendment claim. The suit named members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Wake County election officials and Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman as defendants, according to the report. The court held that polling places are a nonpublic forum and that content-based restrictions there may be upheld if they are reasonable and not viewpoint discriminatory.
In her 15-page order the judge wrote that the prohibition "prevents the use of the voted ballot or a person in a voting booth as proof of compliance in a vote-buying scheme," and added that preventing bribed or forced votes is tied to "maintaining the integrity of the voting booth." The court’s full reasoning and procedural history are set out in the opinion filed in the case. Read the order at Justia.
How The Case Began
Hogarth, a Libertarian activist who ran for state Senate in 2024, says she took the photo at Yates Mill Elementary in Raleigh on March 5, 2024, posted it to X and was later told by the State Board to remove it because photographing a voted ballot is unlawful, as reported by The Washington Post. Her complaint, filed in 2024, challenges five statutes she says together ban "ballot selfies" even when the voter is photographing only their own ballot. The substance of those filings is available via court documents posted by Democracy Docket. Hogarth has said she uses ballot selfies to promote third-party candidates and to encourage civic participation.
Statutory Background
North Carolina law expressly prohibits photographing a "voted official ballot" and generally bars photographing voters inside the voting enclosure, language codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-166.3. The State Board of Elections has regularly reminded the public that taking or posting ballot photos is illegal and may be referred to prosecutors because such images could be used to facilitate vote buying or intimidation. Several related criminal and election-procedure provisions were among the statutes Hogarth challenged in court.
What Voters Need To Know
The prohibition covers in-person votes and completed absentee ballots, so taking a photo of a mailed or absentee ballot at home is also barred under state law. The State Board reiterates that electronic devices may be brought into the voting enclosure but must not be used to photograph a ballot, as stated in its voter guidance. Between March 2016 and March 2024 the State Board reported at least 50 investigations of alleged ballot photography and referred cases to local prosecutors, according to the court filings. Under North Carolina sentencing rules a Class 1 misdemeanor can carry up to 120 days in jail, though actual sentences vary with prior record and other factors.
How Courts Differ
The national landscape is mixed. Appellate judges in the First Circuit struck down New Hampshire’s ballot-selfie ban as overbroad, a line of decisions election-law analysts say supports a strong free-speech claim for ballot selfies in some jurisdictions. At the same time, other courts have been willing to accept that photo restrictions advance legitimate state interests in preventing vote-buying and preserving order in polling places. That split has produced a patchwork of rules across the country and leaves the constitutional question unresolved at the nationwide level, according to resources from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the National Conference of State Legislatures.
What’s Next
The district-court ruling disposes of Hogarth’s claim in this court, but plaintiffs can seek review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Meanwhile, election officials say they will continue to enforce the statutes. Representatives for the State Board and Wake County prosecutors did not immediately reply to requests for comment, per Courthouse News. The decision keeps intact a tool election officials say is meant to protect the secrecy and integrity of voting even as free-speech advocates continue to press challenges in other courts.
For now, North Carolina voters who value sharing their vote on social media should be aware that state law still bars showing a completed ballot. If the case is appealed, higher courts could resolve the split among circuits and change the legal landscape before the next major election. Until then, it is safer to stick to the "I Voted" sticker selfie and leave the ballot itself out of the frame.
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