Elections and Politics

South Carolina: Documenting Your Vote (2008)

NOTE: The information on this page was current as of the 2008 presidential elections, and might not be accurate for later elections. We are retaining this page for historical purposes only. For information related to the 2012 election, visit our revised state-by-state guide.

We have not analyzed South Carolina's laws regulating polling place activities yet, but we received the following communication from a South Carolina State Election Commission official: 

Documenting Your Vote: Pennsylvania Election Laws

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Although Pennsylvania no longer looks like much of a swing state, today I'll discuss the Pennsylvania laws that impact your ability to document your own voting experience through video and still photography, as well as your ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places.

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Arizona: Documenting Your Vote (2008)

NOTE: The information on this page was current as of the 2008 presidential elections, and might not be accurate for later elections. We are retaining this page for historical purposes only. For information related to the 2012 election, visit our revised state-by-state guide.

We have not analyzed Arizona's laws regulating polling place activities yet, but we received the following comment from a site user that went through poll worker training in Arizona:

Documenting Your Vote: Virginia Election Laws

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In the wake of the final presidential debate last night, polls suggest that Virginia is poised to be a key state come November 4.  If you're a Virginia voter thinking about documenting the big day, Virginia election law may affect your ability to use video or still photography in and around your polling place, as well as your ability to interview other voters at the polls.

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CMLP Joins with YouTube and PBS to Help Citizens Video Their Vote

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As part of a new project spearheaded by YouTube and PBS called "Video Your Vote," the Citizen Media Law Project is researching the laws regulating recording activities at polling places.  Our specific focus is on the laws that impact voters' ability to document their own voting experiences through video and still photography, as well as their ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places.

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Documenting Your Vote: Ohio Election Laws

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Continuing our focus on swing states, I'll look today at the laws regulating polling place activities in Ohio. These laws may impact your ability to document your own voting experience through video and still photography, as well as your ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places.

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Documenting Your Vote: Florida Election Laws

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This post is another in our series looking at state election laws that regulate activities at polling places on Election Day.  These laws, which we cover from a general standpoint in the Documenting Your Vote section of our legal guide, may impact your ability to document your own voting experience through video and still photography, as well as your ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places.

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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.

Documenting Your Vote: California Election Laws

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The CMLP is currently doing research on the state laws regulating activities at polling places on Election Day.  Our specific focus is on laws that impact voters' ability to document their own voting experiences through video and still photography, as well as their ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places.  In this post, I'll look at how California's election laws affect these activities.

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Big Media Challenges Constitutionality of Minnesota Polling Restriction

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ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and the Associated Press have joined forces to challenge a Minnesota statute that forbids non-voters to stand within 100 feet of the entrance to a polling place on election day.  In their complaint, the media companies allege that this restriction, as applied to their planned exit polling activities, violates the First Amendment.

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Murawski v. Gunzburger

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Date: 

11/06/2006

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Ronald Gunzburger; George Pataki; Eliot Spitzer; New York State Board of Elections; Yahoo! Inc.; IAC/Interactive Corp.; Michael Bloomberg; Rudolf Giuliani

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization
Large Organization
Government

Court Type: 

Federal

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Case Number: 

1:06-cv-12965

Legal Counsel: 

William Murawski (Pro se)

Legal Counsel: 

Ronald Gunzburger (Pro se)

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
Other

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com

Publication Medium: 

Website

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2007-09-26-Order Granting Gunzburger's Motion to Dismiss.pdf

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Dismissed (total)

Description: 

William Murawski, a frequent political candidate, sued Ron Gunzburger, who runs Politics1.com, for defamation and violating his First Amendment rights. Murawski alleged that Gunzburger violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to list his name as a candidatefor New York governor on Politics1.com. He also alleged that Gunzburger defamed him when he later added Murawski's name to the website by placing it close enough to a Communist Party candidate that search engine results for his name pulled up a snippet of text showing Murawski's name immediately after the words "Communist Political Organizer."

Murawski brought other claims against several additional defendants, including the New York State Board of Elections, several current and former New York government officials, Yahoo!, and IAC/Interactive Corp. (which runs Ask.com).

Gunzburger moved to dismiss the claims against him and for sanctions against Murawski.  The court granted his motion to dismiss, ruling that, because Gunzburger was not a government actor, Murawski could not bring a claim against him for violation of his First Amendment rights. The court rejected the defamation claim as well, ruling that Gunzburger did not identify Murawski as a communist on his website and that the displayed search engine results were not attributable to Gunzburger.

The court denied Gunzburger's motion for sanctions, however, because Murawski was representing himself pro se and may not have been aware of the possibility of sanctions when he wrote his original complaint.

The court also dismissed Murawski's claim against IAC/Interactive for reproducing Gunzburger's list and failing to remove Politics1.com from its directory, relying on section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. In addition, the court dismissed the claims against Yahoo! and several of the government officials.  The case is still pending against the New York State Board of Elections, but the remaining claims do not relate to online speech in any way. 

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CMLP Notes: 

Opinion available on Westlaw: Murawski v. Pataki, 514 F.Supp.2d 577, S.D.N.Y.,2007

Be careful when looking for news on this, because most commentors only want to talk about the claims against other defendants Ask.com and Yahoo. {MCS}

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1-High

Congressman Wears Two Hats: Legislator and Citizen Journalist

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Even elected officials can be citizen journalists.  The New York Times has an interesting report about Representative John Culberson (R) of Texas, who took on a role normally filled by CSPAN after the House had officially adjourned for its summer recess last Friday.

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