FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — It sounds like a great idea, but first-time voters who want to record and share their experiences in the polling place via YouTube can’t do it in Kentucky.
“Video Your Vote,” a national YouTube project with PBS, encourages voters to video themselves in action Nov. 4, including as they cast ballots.
But Kentucky law forbids people from bringing cameras and recording devices into polling places, Secretary of State Trey Grayson said. Those caught recording could be slapped with a misdemeanor.
“I think it’s a great use of technology to record that for posterity,” Grayson told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Friday. “I like that part of the program. But it’s like they came up with the idea of recording your vote without thinking of the consequences.”
Kentucky’s Legislature outlawed video recording, cell phones and cameras in 2005 to avoid intimidating voters. Georgia and Florida also bar recording in polling places.
Grayson said voters should be encouraged to record a video diary about the experience at the polls after they’re away from their voting precinct — at least 300 feet away.
