It’s being claimed that posting pictures of completed Scottish Referendum postal voting papers is illegal. Guess what? It isn’t. But… you knew there would be a but…
We contacted the Electoral Commission who told us that we should look to previous advice printed in the aftermath of the European election confusion around the issue of many voters during the European elections taking selfies and being warned they may be breaking the law.
This said:
“The rules are not the same for postal ballots, so although it is an offence to induce someone to show how they have voted, there are no equivalent provisions around secrecy to those applying in polling stations.”
So basically, the law would only apply to photos taken inside polling stations.
However, even then the rules aren’t as clear cut. You could take a picture but you’d be strongly discouraged by Mary Pitcaithly, Chief Counting Officer:
“While it is not necessarily a criminal offence to photograph a completed ballot paper either at home or within a polling place, it is strongly discouraged as it could violate the secrecy of the ballot, which is fundamental to the integrity of the process.”
So, is it illegal is it not?
Well, the only illegality around it (according to the Electoral Commission and the Referendum Act 2013) would be if you do one of the following.
- Being disruptive as judged by the polling officer at the particular station
- Taking a photo of anyone else either purposely or by mistake (misjudged selfie)
However chances are if you have a postal vote you’re not in a polling station. In this case, you can share your postal vote all you want, as long as you don’t share anyone else’s, induce others into sharing theirs or share others photos without their prior permission.
So – photos in polling stations you’ll have to follow the rules as laid out in the referendum act to avoid breaking the law. Photos of postal votes are perfectly fine, although discouraged.
By Kenny Murray
Kenny is Weber Shandwick’s Digital Assistant