Wednesday 21 May 2014

No Selfies please, we are British!

Something I tweeted about a couple of weeks back, might be an idea to share the tweet so people know, underneath is the offical thoughts and guidelines
The Electoral Commission is worried the current craze for smart phone self-portraits, as demonstrated above by the prime minister, will threaten the secrecy of the ballot. They have issued guidelines to staff at polling stations advising them to discourage the taking of "selfies", or any other kind of photograph in the polling station. There may be notices on the wall warning people about it. Taking a photograph in a polling station is not a criminal offence in itself, but sharing of information that appears on a ballot paper, even before it has been filled in, could represent a breach of Section 66 of the Representation of the People's Act 1983, leading to a fine of up to £5,000, or a six months jail sentence. It all depends on whether the photograph was shared with others and what is in it - but the Electoral Commission is not taking any chances. "Given the risk that someone taking a photo inside a polling station may be in breach of the law, whether intentionally or not, our advice is that you should not allow photos to be taken inside polling stations," says the guidance to staff. Tweeting pictures of a postal ballot is also discouraged.

From the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27039093

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