State Law: Documenting Your Vote

PLEASE NOTE: This page includes information current as of the November 2008 national elections; we are maintaining this page for archival purposes. Our guide for the November 2012 national elections is here.

On this page, we provide a list of election laws, websites, and contact information for election officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Contacting your state election officials is a great way to get information about what your state allows in terms of documenting the vote.

You should also consult our chart summarizing the law in each state in order to determine whether your state allows recording inside polling places.  For general guidelines on photography and videography in and around polling places, see the Documenting Your Vote page in this guide.

As Election Day approaches, we will continue to supplement the information on this page. Given the tight time schedule between now and the election, we'd love the help of our readers with this election law research.  If you've got input on this topic, please contact us.

Select a state below to jump to its relevant information:

Alabama Georgia Maryland New Jersey South Carolina
Alaska Hawaii Massachusetts New Mexico South Dakota
Arizona Idaho Michigan New York Tennessee
Arkansas Illinois Minnesota North Carolina Texas
California Indiana Mississippi North Dakota Utah
Colorado Iowa Missouri Ohio Vermont
Connecticut Kansas Montana Oklahoma Virginia
Delaware Kentucky Nebraska Oregon Washington
Dist. of Columbia Louisiana Nevada Pennsylvania West Virginia
Florida Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island Wisconsin
        Wyoming


Alabama

Alaska

  • Contact Information:
  • Relevant Law:

    • Alaska Stat. § 15.15.290 -  Prohibiting the identification of ballots
    • Alaska Stat. § 15.56.030 - Unlawful interference with voting
    • Alaska Stat. § 15.56.060 - Unlawful interference with an election
    • Link to Alaska Statutes, Title 15 - Elections

Arizona

Arkansas

  • Contact Information:
  • Relevant Law:

    • Ark. Code § 7-1-103 - Miscellaneous misdemeanor offenses
    • Ark. Code § 7-1-104 - Miscellaneous felonies
    • Ark. Code § 7-5-309 - Voting procedure
    • Ark. Code § 7-5-310 - Privacy -- Assistance to disabled voters
    • Ark. Code § 7-5-521 - Arrangement of polling place
    • Link to Arkansas Code

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

  • Contact Information:
  • Relevant Law:

    • Iowa Code § 49.88 - Limitations on persons in booth and time for voting (Note: Subsection 1. prohibits the "use of cameras, cellular telephones, pagers, or other electronic communications devices in the voting booth")
    • Iowa Code § 39A.4 - Election misconduct in the third degree
    • Iowa Code § 39A.5 - Election misconduct in the fourth degree
    • Iowa Code § 49.84 - Marking and return of ballot
    • Link to Iowa Code (type in section 39A)

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

  • Contact Information:
  • Relevant Law:

    • Texas Elec. Code § 61.001 - Bystanders excluded
    • Texas Elec. Code § 61.003 - Electioneering and loitering near polling place prohibited
    • Texas Elec. Code § 61.006 - Unlawfully divulging vote
    • Texas Elec. Code § 61.008 - Unlawfully influencing voter
    • Texas Elec. Code § 61.014 - Use of certain devices
    • Link to Texas Statutes

  • Other Resources:

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

  • Contact Information:
  • Relevant Law:

    • Va. Code § 24.2-604 - Prohibited activities at polls; notice of prohibited area; presence of representatives of parties or candidates; simulated elections; penalties; neutral observers; news media
    • Va. Code § 24.2-607 - Prohibited conduct; intimidation of voters; disturbance of election; how prevented; penalties
    • Va. Code § 24.2-1011 - Ballot not to be carried away

  • Other Resources:

    • Virginia: Documenting Your Vote - see especially page 3: "Pictures should not be taken of voters putting ballots into the ballot box (voters are guaranteed privacy of their votes)." 

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

  • Contact Information:
  • Relevant Law:

    • Wyo. Stat. § 22-13-103 - Preservation of order; space around voting booths and machines
    • Wyo. Stat. § 22-13-106 - Marking and depositing of paper ballots
    • Wyo. Stat. § 22-13-113 - Persons permitted in voting booth; time limit
    • Wyo. Stat. §§ 22-26-112, 114 - Prohibiting creation of disturbance at polling place
    • Link to Wyoming Statutes, Title 22 - Elections

Subject Area: