Authorized Information for Journalists Overlaying the Election – Cyber Tech

This information was initially authored in 2020 by Reporters Committee attorneys Sarah Matthews and Gunita Singh, authorized fellows Audrey Greene and Kamesha Laurry, and authorized interns Emma Lux and Shontee Pant. It was up to date in 2024 by authorized fellows Zach Babo, Julia Dacy, Mayeesha Galiba, and Daniela Wertheimer.

The Election Authorized Information supplies an summary of authorized points that journalists might face whereas reporting on the 2024 election cycle. View the Election Authorized Information in Spanish / Vea la Guía Authorized Para Las Elecciones en Español.

The primary 5 sections of this information supply a normal abstract of details about marketing campaign occasions, exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, poll selfies, and entry to ballots and election data. The next sections present extra particular info on every of the next battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Journalists who’re reporting on protests and demonstrations through the election season also can study extra in regards to the particular dangers they could face and how one can keep secure within the Reporters Committee’s Police, Protesters, and the Press information. These guides are supposed for informational functions solely and don’t change the authorized recommendation of an legal professional. Journalists with extra questions, together with questions on states not featured on this information, ought to contact the Reporters Committee’s free Authorized Hotline.

Marketing campaign occasions

Marketing campaign rallies and occasions are, as a normal matter, privately funded by political campaigns and are thus thought-about non-public occasions. In consequence, campaigns keep management over which members of the general public might (or might not) entry these occasions, together with journalists. Journalists have traditionally been granted entry to marketing campaign occasions; nevertheless, since 2016, there have been elevated experiences of journalists barred — or eliminated — from such occasions. The issue has continued into 2024, with current experiences of journalists being denied entry to marketing campaign occasions held by Donald Trump and Nikki Haley.

Journalists denied credentialed entry to marketing campaign occasions have skilled success attending as a member of most of the people. Nonetheless, journalists needs to be conscious that they could be topic to elimination in the event that they violate occasion guidelines established by the marketing campaign. For instance, in 2020 a New York Occasions reporter was ejected from a Trump marketing campaign rally after reporting by way of social media from the occasion’s normal viewers space, which purportedly violated the marketing campaign’s occasion guidelines.

Exit polling

Exit polls carried out in particular person

Journalists’ rights and restrictions at polling locations are usually not set in stone. Whether or not a restriction is permissible usually activates its “reasonableness” below the circumstances. Though courts don’t usually deal with the final concern of newsgathering at polling locations, a number of courts have thought-about the narrower query of whether or not journalists ought to be capable to conduct exit polls on Election Day, often discovering that just some affordable restrictions are allowed.

Typically, the First Modification protects journalists’ proper to assemble information exterior polling locations for the aim of reporting on early election outcomes. Though many states immediately have polling-place restrictions to stop voter intimidation and election fraud, courts have invalidated laws that’s geared toward stopping exit polling.

The important thing query about every restriction is whether or not it seeks to restrict speech or newsgathering. If it does, the restriction could also be unconstitutional. But when the regulation applies equally to all expressive exercise, doesn’t single out newsgathering for unfavorable remedy, and promotes the protection and orderliness of the election course of, restrictions deemed affordable — reminiscent of a 25-foot restrict on entry — are permissible.

Within the seminal case on exit polling, Day by day Herald Co. v. Munro, 838 F.second 380 (ninth Cir. 1988), the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held {that a} state regulation prohibiting exit polling inside 300 ft of a voting place was unconstitutional on its face. The court docket clearly said that “exit polling constitutes speech protected by the First Modification.” Id. at 384.

A minimum of 18 different federal courts have thought-about the difficulty since Munro. These courts have principally held that exit polling is constitutionally protected however have additionally permitted some restrictions, reminiscent of a 25-foot restrict on entry, Nat’l Broad. Co. v. Cleland, 697 F. Supp. 1204, 1215 (N.D. Ga. 1988), or a rule in opposition to hindering voters from leaving polling locations, Am. Broad. Cos. v. Blackwell, 479 F. Supp. second 719, 744 (S.D. Ohio 2006). Though the U.S. Supreme Court docket has not addressed exit polling particularly, it has made clear that states might prohibit different exercise reminiscent of electioneering inside at the very least 100 ft of voting locations. See Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 210 (1992) (permitting restriction on solicitation of votes and distribution of marketing campaign supplies to guard the federal government’s compelling curiosity in stopping voter intimidation and election fraud).

When courts have thought-about restrictions that influence exit polling, they’ve typically agreed with the Ninth Circuit in Munro on just a few key factors:

First, exit polls present invaluable info to the general public. See, e.g., Cleland, 697 F. Supp. at 1209.

Second, exit polling will not be inherently disruptive. See, e.g., CBS Broad., Inc. v. Smith, 681 F. Supp. 794, 801 (S.D. Fla. 1988); Am. Broad. Cos. v. Wells, 669 F. Supp. second 483, 490 (D.N.J. 2009).

Third, distance restrictions, even when they apply typically to exercise exterior polling areas, could also be overly burdensome on the press’s potential to assemble information. See Smith, 681 F. Supp. at 803; Cleland, 697 F. Supp. at 1209–10; CBS Broad., Inc. v. Cobb, 470 F. Supp. second 1365, 1371 (S.D. Fla. 2006).

The choices range on what distance is simply too burdensome, with a number of courts holding that restrictions of 100-feet or extra are impermissible. Examine, e.g., Munro, 838 F.second at 386 (invalidating 300-foot restriction); Cleland, 697 F. Supp. at 1215 (barring enforcement of 250-foot restriction however allowing 25-foot restriction); Nat’l Broad. Co. v. Colburg, 699 F. Supp. 241, 243 (D. Mont. 1988) (invalidating 200-foot restriction); Smith, 681 F. Supp. at 806 (barring enforcement of 150-foot restriction); Cobb, 470 F. Supp. second at 1371 (barring enforcement of 100-foot restriction); Am. Broad. Cos. v. Heller, No. 06-CV-01268, 2006 WL 3149365, at *13 (D. Nev. Nov. 1, 2006) (identical); Am. Broad. Cos. v. Ritchie, No. 08-CV-05285, 36 Media L. Rep. 2601, 2008 WL 4635377 (D. Minn. Oct. 15, 2008) (identical).

Exit polls carried out by telephone

Telephone surveys of voters are a rising apply that permits entry to absentee and early voters, in addition to those that vote by mail. Journalists conducting exit polls by telephone needs to be conscious that the Phone Client Safety Act (TCPA) locations restrictions on prerecorded calls. 47 U.S.C. § 227. The TCPA typically prohibits robocalls to landlines except the recipient has offered categorical consent. § 227(b)(1)(B). However the regulation permits for sure exceptions, reminiscent of for calls that aren’t made for “a industrial function” or are made for a industrial function however don’t embody advertisements or telemarketing, and calls made by tax-exempt nonprofits. § 227(b)(2)(B). The Federal Communications Fee has clarified that market analysis and polling calls to landlines fall into this class and don’t require prior consent, although these calls should nonetheless establish the caller initially of the message and embody a contact telephone quantity. Nonetheless, auto-dialed and prerecorded non-emergency calls to wi-fi telephones are “prohibited with out prior categorical consent, whatever the name’s content material.”

Newsgathering in or close to polling locations

Just a few courts have addressed newsgathering at and round polling locations aside from exit polling. In 2013, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected a problem to a Pennsylvania statute that required folks to stay at the very least 10 ft away from polling locations, holding that there was no First Modification proper of entry for newsgathering functions. PG Publ’g Co. v. Aichele, 705 F.3d 91, 113–14 (3d Cir. 2013). Nonetheless, in 2004, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit barred enforcement of the same regulation in Ohio that restricted folks from coming into the polling place or “loiter[ing]” within the adjoining space exterior. Beacon Journal Publ’g Co. v. Blackwell, 389 F.3d 683, 685 (sixth Cir. 2004). The court docket held that the state was required to allow a information group “to have affordable entry to any polling place for the aim of news-gathering and reporting as long as [they] don’t intervene with ballot staff and voters as voters train their proper to vote.” Id.

With respect to images, courts have upheld some restrictions inside polling areas, given considerations about election safety. In 1989, the Florida Supreme Court docket heard a problem by a newspaper whose photographer was ejected from a polling place after making an attempt to safe a photograph of a candidate on the polls. Firestone v. Information-Press Publ’g Co., 538 So. second 457, 458 (Fla. 1989). The court docket held {that a} state regulation barring non-voters inside 50 ft of a polling place was unconstitutional as utilized exterior of the voting room, however constitutional as utilized throughout the room itself. Id. at 460. Likewise, the California Court docket of Appeals discovered {that a} coverage prohibiting images and videotaping inside polling locations was constitutional given the state’s curiosity in sustaining poll secrecy and an orderly voting course of. Poniktera v. Seiler, 104 Cal. Rptr. 3d 291, 304–05 (Cal. Ct. App. 2010).

One federal district court docket has upheld restrictions on images exterior a polling place, however such restrictions are much less frequent. See N.J. Press Ass’n v. Guadagno, No. 12-CV-06353, 2012 WL 5498019, at *7–8 (D.N.J. Nov. 13, 2012) (rejecting problem introduced by information media organizations in opposition to anti-loitering and solicitation regulation that successfully barred them from taking images and conducting interviews inside 100 ft of a polling station).

Poll selfies

“Poll selfies” are a social media staple and could also be utilized by journalists to display present political tendencies or to tell the general public of potential points with the election course of. The publication of poll selfies or marked poll pictures needs to be permitted if they’re obtained lawfully. Earlier than taking poll selfies or pictures of voters on the polls, journalists and members of the general public ought to be sure that their actions are permitted by state regulation. (Notably, there isn’t a federal regulation disallowing poll selfies.) The Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures has a useful on-line useful resource with info on poll and polling place images legal guidelines by state. Journalists ought to affirm that the legal guidelines cited are nonetheless present earlier than counting on them.

Typically, poll selfies are thought-about a type of political speech. Political endorsements are thought-about a bedrock of the electoral course of and a significant type of political expression. Nonetheless, some worry that poll selfies and different poll images might encourage voter coercion or vote shopping for. To fight these fears, many states have adopted legal guidelines that prohibit photographing election ballots or sharing {a photograph} of a marked poll with others.

In accordance with a 2020 Vox report, 14 states have legal guidelines prohibiting poll selfies, whereas 24 states and the District of Columbia allow them. Some states, like Arizona, allow images of absentee ballots however don’t allow using cameras at polling websites. See, e.g., Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-515(G) (banning images inside 75 ft of the polls); Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-1018(4) (allowing a voter to make out there a picture of his or her personal poll). A number of states enable folks to take footage of polling stations as long as they don’t seem to be disruptive or for electioneering functions.

Lately, a number of courts have thought-about the constitutionality of legal guidelines banning poll selfies with combined outcomes. A minimum of three federal courts have struck down such legal guidelines as unconstitutional below the First Modification. In 2016, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the First Circuit discovered a New Hampshire regulation that prohibited taking and sharing images of a marked poll — no matter whether or not it was taken at a polling place — overly broad and concluded that the federal government had didn’t establish a necessity for the laws aside from summary considerations about vote shopping for and voter coercion. Rideout v. Gardner, 838 F.3d 65, 68, 73 (1st Cir. 2016).  The New Hampshire Board of Elections advises, nevertheless, that “[i]t is suitable to encourage that poll selfies be taken contained in the voting sales space, the place there isn’t a threat of photographing different voters or their poll.”  New Hampshire Election Process Handbook: 2022-2023, N.H. Dep’t of State.

The next yr, a federal district court docket — citing comparable causes — barred enforcement of an Indiana regulation that prohibited voters from taking or sharing pictures of even unmarked ballots whereas in a polling place. Ind. Civil Liberties Union Discovered., Inc. v. Ind. Sec’y of State, 229 F. Supp. 3d 817, 824–25 (S.D. Ind. 2017). A federal court docket in Colorado preliminarily blocked enforcement of that state’s regulation, which prohibited voters from exhibiting their accomplished ballots, noting that state regulation already barred voter coercion and vote shopping for, and most ballots had been mailed in. Hill v. Williams, No. 16-cv-0267-CMA, 2016 WL 8667798, at *11–12 (D. Colo. Nov. 4, 2016). The Colorado legislature subsequently modified the regulation to affirmatively enable poll selfies. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 1-13-712(b).

In 2017, the Circuit Court docket of Illinois declared an Illinois regulation, 10 ILCS 5/29-9, which criminally outlawed poll selfies, unconstitutional on the grounds that the regulation was facially overbroad. Rogers v. Madison Cnty. Clerk, No. 2016-SC-3147, 2017 WL 3475008 (Ailing. Cir. Ct. July 20, 2017). Nonetheless, three years later, the Appellate Court docket of Illinois held that the statute was an inexpensive restriction on voters’ First Modification rights. Oettle v. Guthrie, 2020 IL App (fifth) 190306, ¶ 3, 189 N.E.3d 22, 25 (Dec. 16, 2020). As of March 10, 2023, an modification to the regulation to allow poll selfies stays pending within the Illinois Home. IL HB1369.

A federal district court docket upheld New York’s poll selfie ban, discovering that the state’s curiosity in stopping vote shopping for and coercion justified the regulation. Silberberg. v. Bd. of Elections, 272 F. Supp. 3d 454, 479, 481 (S.D.N.Y. 2017). Throughout its 2022 session, the New York Legislature thought-about a invoice to permit poll selfies; the invoice didn’t cross and was not enacted into regulation. A.B. 4182, 2021-22 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2022).

The Sixth Circuit has additionally steered, with out deciding, {that a} Michigan poll selfie ban could also be constitutional. Crookston v. Johnson, 841 F.3d 396, 399 (sixth Cir. 2016). However the concern was later settled when the Michigan secretary of state agreed to allow poll selfies within the voting sales space.

Most lately, an Ohio voter introduced a problem to enforcement of two Ohio legal guidelines that ostensibly prohibit taking poll selfies. Kareem v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Bd. of Elec., No. 1:20-CV-02457, 2023 WL 2734636, at *6 (N.D. Ohio Mar. 31, 2023). The felony statutes prohibit voters from “exhibit[ing]” their poll earlier than it’s solid, Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3501.35(4), and from permitting their poll “to be seen by one other … with the obvious intention of letting it’s identified how the elector is about to vote,” Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3599.20. Although the voter-plaintiff pointed to proof that the Board of Elections had despatched one other voter a request to delete a poll selfie and that the Board had issued statements to the general public and press in regards to the illegality of poll selfies, this was inadequate for the voter-plaintiff to determine standing, and the court docket declined to determine the constitutional deserves of the voter’s case.

Entry to ballots and election data

Due at the very least partially to the COVID-19 pandemic, the variety of voters casting mail-in ballots has grown exponentially lately. In 2020, 43 % of voters solid mail-in ballots, whereas one other 26 % voted in particular person earlier than Election Day, in keeping with U.S. Census knowledge. In accordance with the identical knowledge, 69 % of voters solid their ballots nontraditionally, both by mail or earlier than Election Day. The 2022 U.S. congressional elections noticed 52.2 % of the voting-age inhabitants take part, marking the second-highest voter turnout for such midterm elections since 2000, in keeping with U.S. Census knowledge.  Practically half (47.1 %) of these voters solid ballots earlier than Election Day, with 31.8 % of voters doing so by mail. This marked one other enhance in such nontraditional strategies in comparison with the 2018 midterm elections, the place 23.1 % of voters solid ballots by mail, and 37.8 % voted earlier than Election Day.

These modifications in how People place their votes have, in flip, resulted in modifications to how states tally and report votes through the U.S. elections course of. As these tendencies are anticipated to proceed, this part of our information focuses on the precise of the general public and press to entry voter rolls, ballots, and the preliminary poll depend and recount course of within the following battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. As well as, it comprises details about deadlines for counting and certifying state election outcomes and the place to seek out up-to-date election outcomes on the night time of the election and thereafter. The sections beneath embody particular info for every of those battleground states.

To study extra about entry to election-related data in every state, go to the Reporters Committee’s Open Authorities Information.

Entry to voter rolls

Within the 2024 battleground states coated on this information, voter registration data are open to public inspection pursuant to every state’s public data regulation, albeit with sure info withheld, reminiscent of social safety numbers and dates of start. In most of those states, copies of voter registration data can also be obtained.

Entry to ballots

State legal guidelines range with respect to entry to ballots. Some states, like Wisconsin, think about them to be public data topic to sure redactions. See, e.g. Election Audit Central, County of Dane, WI (publicly posting zip information containing redacted poll pictures for the 2022 Spring Election as a “do it your self audit”). However different states, like Arizona, require them to be sealed, remaining confidential both for a hard and fast interval or in perpetuity.  See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-624; Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-625.

Entry to preliminary poll counts and recounts

Typically, the press and the general public are entitled to look at the preliminary poll counts and recounts carried out within the 2022 battleground states coated on this information. In Pennsylvania, nevertheless, solely candidates and their attorneys or representatives could also be current to look at a recount.  See, e.g., 25 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3154(e). In Ohio, the secretary of state has indicated that the general public’s proper of entry will not be “as intensive” as the precise of entry for “duly appointed observers,” though the secretary has not clarified what this implies. Directive 2011-12, Ohio Sec’y of State (Mar. 25, 2011).

Federal and state deadlines

The battleground states featured on this information typically don’t allow mail-in or absentee ballots to be counted previous to Election Day — though Arizona and Florida do. Nonetheless, some states, together with Minnesota, North Carolina, and Ohio, allow counties to course of mail-in ballots — which means put together them for counting — previous to Election Day. Proposals for comparable measures in Michigan and Pennsylvania have stalled lately regardless of help from their respective secretaries of state.

The battleground states differ on when the poll depend should be accomplished, in addition to their mail-in poll receipt deadlines and necessities for mail-in poll eligibility. Such deadlines and necessities had been often the topic of litigation in 2022, and we should always anticipate to see extra of the identical in 2024.

Secretaries of state and state election boards might present well timed entry to election outcomes and election-related data on their web sites.

Arizona

Voter rolls

• Voter registration info is “an official public file.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-161.
• Voter registration data can be found for public inspection at native election workplaces; copies can also be furnished for a price. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-168(F).
• Obtainable info contains title, get together desire, date of registration, deal with, phone quantity, start yr, occupation, knowledge associated to early voters, and voting historical past. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-168(F).
• Further sources: Ron O’Dell, Arizona settles lawsuit to make voter-registration knowledge extra accessible, reasonably priced, AZCentral (June 29, 2017).

Ballots

• Voted ballots are statutorily preserved just for conducting a recount and, afterwards, they should be destroyed with out examination. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-624.
• Poll pictures are protected against bodily and digital entry, together with unauthorized copying or switch and are protected by safety measures which can be at the very least as protecting as these in place for paper ballots. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-625.

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• “All proceedings on the counting middle shall be … below the remark of representatives of every political get together and the general public.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-621(A).
• There’s a stay feed that streams tabulation for all elections the place ballots are counted. The county officer answerable for elections should present a stay video recording of the counting of ballots within the tabulation room, throughout each preliminary counting and recounts. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-621(D).
• The county officer answerable for elections should well timed present the web site hyperlink to the recordings to the secretary of state, who then publishes these hyperlinks on the secretary of state’s web site together with date and time indicators. The secretary of state posts hyperlinks to the video protection for viewing by the general public. Id.
• “The county recorder or officer answerable for elections shall file the video protection of the ballots on the counting middle and shall retain these recordings as a public file for at the very least so long as the problem interval for the final election.” Id.

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• Most Arizonans vote by mail.
• Early voting begins Oct. 11, 2024. For absentee ballots and ballots solid in accordance with early voting procedures, “tallying of ballots might start instantly after the envelope and accomplished affidavit are processed … and delivered to the early election board.”  Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-550(B).
• Outcomes of early voting can’t be “launched or divulged earlier than all precincts have reported or one hour after the closing of the polls on election day, whichever happens first.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-551(C).
• Polls shut at 7 p.m. on Election Day. The deadline for tallying all ballots is the fourth Monday following the final election — this yr, Dec. 2.  Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-648.
• Counties have as much as 20 days and the state has as much as 30 days to canvass and certify the outcomes. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-642(A); Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-648.
• Maricopa County will start posting unofficial outcomes at 8 p.m. on Election Day. There are 2,406,677 registered voters in Maricopa County as of Jan. 2, 2024. Of these voters, 1,879,979 are on the energetic early voting listing.
• Further sources: Maricopa County Elections Division; Secretary of State 2024 Election Data

Election outcome sources

• The Arizona secretary of state web site and the Maricopa County recorder web site will submit election outcomes once they grow to be out there.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

Florida

Voter rolls

Ballots

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• The preliminary poll counts, or canvasses, are open to the general public. County boards of election will typically submit info on their web sites about attending canvasses. Fla. Stat. § 102.141(2).
• Public discover of a recount should be offered as quickly as potential as soon as a recount is deemed needed.  Fla. Stat. § 102.166.
• All procedures referring to recounts are open to the general public. Id.
• Further sources: Recount Process Abstract, Fla. Div. of Elections (final up to date June 2022).

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• The deadline for county canvassing boards to submit official outcomes to the Florida Division of State is 12 p.m. EST, 13 days after Election Day — this yr, Nov. 18. Fla. Stat. § 102.112(2). If the outcomes are usually not despatched to the Division of State as a result of an emergency, the Elections Canvassing Fee should decide a brand new deadline. Fla. Stat. § 102.112(4).

Election outcome sources

• Elections supervisors present stay turnout knowledge to the general public on Election Day and replace it at the very least as soon as an hour. For present election outcomes, go to the Florida Division of State’s Election Watch web site.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Florida regulation has prohibited “solicitation” each inside polling locations and inside 150 ft of them, together with in search of “truth, opinion, or contribution.” Stat. § 102.031(4)(b). The regulation, nevertheless, comprises an categorical carve-out that allows exit polling.
  • In 2023, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit evaluated, amongst different provisions, the constitutionality of the ultimate clause of Part 102.031(4)(b), which prohibited “participating in any exercise with the intent to affect or impact of influencing a voter.” See League of Ladies Voters of Fla. v. Fla. Sec. of State, 66 F.4th 905 (eleventh Cir. 2023). The Court docket upheld the district court docket’s dedication that the clause “participating in any exercise with the … impact of influencing a voter,” as written, was unconstitutionally obscure and overbroad as a result of it didn’t put a person on discover of what acts it forbids. at 946–47. Nonetheless, the Court docket’s ruling doesn’t seem to have an effect on the permissibility of exit polling within the state.
• Florida regulation additionally typically prohibits images in polling locations, however a 2019 modification to the regulation makes an exception for poll selfies. (“[A]n elector might {photograph} his or her personal poll”). Fla. Stat. § 102.031(5).
• The general public can enter polling rooms to look at procedures earlier than the polls open and after all voters have solid their ballots. However the press can’t be within the polling room when polls are open. Fla. Stat. §102.031(3)(a).

Georgia

Voter rolls

• Voter registration lists can be found to the general public below the Georgia Open Information Act.  Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-225(b).
• The requester should full and mail a type and cost to the Georgia secretary of state’s workplace. Obtainable voter info contains voter title, residential deal with, mailing deal with (if completely different), race, gender, registration date, and final voting date. Georgia’s secretary of state’s workplace determines pricing. Georgia regulation prohibits using voter registration info for industrial functions. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-225(c).

Ballots

• The contents of voting machines are usually not open to the general public. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-72.
• Nonetheless, “the first and election data of every superintendent, registrar, municipal governing authority, and committee of a political get together or physique, together with registration statements, nomination petitions, affidavits, certificates, tally papers, returns, accounts, contracts, experiences, and different paperwork in official custody” are publicly out there. Id.

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• Poll counts utilizing optical scanning gear are open to the general public, however solely individuals “employed and designated for [the] function [of counting and tabulating ballots] by the superintendent’s licensed deputy shall contact any poll or poll container.” Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-483(b).
• Georgia regulation doesn’t require an automated recount. Candidates have a proper to request a recount if the margin is lower than or equal to 0.5 %. Recount requests should be made in writing inside two enterprise days of the discharge of licensed voting outcomes. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-495(c)(1).
• Candidates can also request a recount when there’s a suspected error or discrepancy within the returns. The secretary of state has discretion to allow the recount. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-495(d).
• Throughout recounts, all ballots should be counted utilizing poll scanners. Members of the general public are allowed to view the recount, and officers should keep a “clear audit path” through the recount, together with logs of poll container seal numbers. See Ga. Guidelines of State Election Bd., 183-1-15-.03(1)(b), (d), (f).
• Whereas voting outcomes are topic to the Georgia Open Information Act’s disclosure necessities, specific forms of election knowledge that will compromise election safety “in opposition to sabotage, felony, or terroristic acts” could also be exempt. See Smith v. DeKalb Cnty., 654 S.E.second 469, 472 (Ga. App. Ct. 2007) (affirming injunction prohibiting disclosure of election CDs that included passwords, encryption codes, and different safety info).
• Until famous in any other case, it’s illegal to reveal or obtain any details about absentee poll tabulations till the polls shut. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-386(f).

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• Georgia county election boards might start processing absentee ballots (also called mail-in ballots) as much as 15 days earlier than Election Day, and should start doing so one week earlier than Election Day, in keeping with an emergency rule handed by Georgia’s State Elections Board on Nov. 23, 2020. Nonetheless, absentee ballots will not be counted till Election Day. Ga. Guidelines of State Election Board 183-1-14-0.9-.15(1); Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-386.
• Election officers should keep a grasp listing, topic to public inspection, itemizing the title and residence of each particular person to whom an absentee poll has been despatched. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-384(d).

Election outcome sources

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• In Georgia, reporters might enter a polling place to look at, however they’re prohibited from coming into the “enclosed area.” See Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-568.1 (stating that, besides for youngsters so licensed, “no particular person shall deliberately observe an elector whereas casting a poll in a way that may enable such particular person to see for whom or what the elector is voting” and that violators of this provision “shall be responsible of a felony”). Georgia regulation refers to an “enclosed area” as a single room furnished with a guardrail or barrier the place voting machines are situated and the place electors solid their votes. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-267(a).
• Georgia regulation prohibits members of the general public, together with journalists, from taking footage, movies, or different recordings contained in the polling place. Due to this fact, poll selfies are usually not permitted on the polls. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-413(e).
• Journalists might not conduct exit or public opinion polling of voters inside 25 ft of the exit of any constructing the place a polling place is situated. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-414(c)(1).

Michigan

Voter rolls

Ballots

• Ballots, not traceable to particular person voters, can be found for inspection and copying, in keeping with Michigan’s public data regulation. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 15.231 et seq.
• Further sources: Workplace of the Mich. Att’y Gen., Op. No. 7247 (Could 13, 2010).

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• Preliminary counting of ballots is public. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.801.
• Candidates and voters, besides candidates in search of precinct delegate positions, can request recounts. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines §§ 168.862­–863.
• Recounts are carried out in a public area the place members of the press and public might observe the method as long as observers don’t disturb these counting the ballots. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines §§ 168.879–80; Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.889.
• People who intimidate an election official with the intent to intervene within the official’s duties are topic to felony sanction.  Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.931b. This provision doesn’t apply to “constitutionally protected exercise, together with, however not restricted to, participating in reporting” and information gathering on “issues of public curiosity or public concern.”
• For federal seats and State Home seats contained inside a single district, recount petitions should be filed inside 48 hours after the Board of State Canvassers adjourns the assembly at which the dedication for the seat was recorded. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.879.
• For federal and state seats contained in a number of counties, recount petitions should be filed inside 48 hours after the Board of State Canvassers completes the canvass. Id.
• For county seats, recount petitions should be filed inside 48 hours after the Board of County Canvassers completes the canvass. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.866.
• Presidential and vice-presidential candidates “might search judicial overview of the certification or dedication by a grievance for mandamus filed within the supreme court docket,” offered sure circumstances are met.  Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.845a. Assessment “should be filed inside 48 hours after the certification or dedication of the outcomes of a presidential election.”
• Voters, inside 30 days after the election, might deliver go well with in county circuit court docket for obvious materials fraud in an election to “determine a constitutional modification, query, or proposition.” Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 600.4545.
• Further sources: Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.874; Mich. Election Dates, Workplace of the Mich. Sec’y of State.

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• Absentee ballots will not be counted till Election Day.
• The boards of county canvassers should full the poll depend inside 14 days after Election Day — this yr, by Nov. 19. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.822.
• The Board of State Canvassers should certify the outcomes for President and Vice President inside 20 days of the election — this yr, by Nov. 25. Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.842.
• If the unofficial election return vote margin between the primary and second place winners of the presidential and vice presidential election is fewer than 25,000, the secretary of state will expedite county canvassers’ returns such that the finished depend is concluded by the seventh day after the election — this yr, Nov. 12 — and no later than the fourteenth day after the election — this yr, Nov. 19.  Mich. Comp. Legal guidelines § 168.842.

Election outcome sources

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Voters can take images of their very own ballots whereas inside voting cubicles, however are usually not allowed to take a photograph of themselves with the poll, even within the privateness of the sales space. Additional, voters are usually not permitted to share pictures of their voted ballots inside 100 ft of polling locations. Election Inspectors’ Process Handbook (2022), Mich. Bureau of Elections.
• These guidelines, first adopted in 2019, had been a part of a settlement in a voter lawsuit difficult Michigan’s restriction on poll images. Michigan secretary of state settles ‘poll selfie’ case, Mich. Dept. of State.
• In the meantime, journalists and broadcast stations are allowed to briefly movie from the general public space of a polling room, however a precinct chairperson should supervise to make sure poll secrecy is maintained and no voters are inconvenienced. Reporters might not interview voters contained in the polling place. Election Officers’ Handbook (final up to date November 2022), Mich. Bureau of Elections.

Minnesota

Voter rolls

• The county auditor shall make out there a public info listing containing the title, deal with, yr of start, and voting historical past of each registered voter within the county. Minn. Stat. § 201.091(4).
• Voter registration data can be found for inspection and copying. Obtainable info contains voter title, deal with, and voting historical past. Nonetheless, one should be a registered voter within the state to obtain copies of the data. Information should be offered inside 10 days of a request. Id.
• One might not acquire these data “for functions unrelated to elections, political actions, or regulation enforcement.” This isn’t a bar to entry; the Minnesota secretary of state has offered copies of the statewide voter listing to information retailers, together with the Star Tribune. Id.
• The names of voters whose absentee ballots weren’t accepted should be made publicly out there after the shut of voting on Election Day. Minn. Stat. § 203B.12.

Ballots

• Ballots are usually not out there to the general public or to the press as public data. Ballots are sealed after Election Day and are solely out there to a court docket throughout a authorized dispute, to these concerned in a recount, and/or to the Minnesota secretary of state. Minn. Stat. § 204C.25; Minn. Stat. § 204C.28.

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• The preliminary poll counts are public. Minn. Stat. § 204C.33.
• The general public and the press are additionally allowed to look at recounts. Viewing areas are established for the general public to look at the recounting of ballots. Minn. Stat. §204C.361.
• A candidate whose nomination is in query might request a recount if the vote margin is lower than 0.25 % for federal workplaces and state constitutional or judicial workplaces, lower than 0.5 % for state legislative workplaces, or if the distinction in votes is 10 or much less the place the full variety of votes is 400 or fewer. Minn. Stat. § 204C.35–36. The request should be made with the suitable submitting officer inside 48 hours after the canvassing board assembly.
• Further sources: Recounts, Workplace of the Minn. Sec’y of State.

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• No ballots are tallied earlier than Election Day in Minnesota, though the ballots might be processed previous to Election Day.
• The County Canvassing Board meets between the third and tenth days following the state normal election to publicly canvass the final election returns. Which means that, this yr, canvassing should be accomplished by Nov. 15. The State Canvassing Board then meets to depend the tallies acquired from every of the county auditors on the third Tuesday following the state normal election — this yr, Nov. 26. The board should report the outcomes inside three days of finishing the depend — this yr, Dec. 2. Minn. Stat. § 204C.33(1).
• Supply: Canvassing Boards, Workplace of the Minn. Sec’y of State; 2022 Minnesota Absentee Voting Administration Information at 49.

Election outcome sources

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• There isn’t a regulation prohibiting somebody from taking an image of his or her personal poll. Nonetheless, the Minnesota secretary of state’s workplace discourages the apply as a result of state regulation technically prohibits voters from exhibiting their marked poll to others. Polling Place Guidelines, Workplace of the Minn. Sec’y of State; Stat. § 204C.17–18.
• Journalists can observe the voting course of, however they can’t conduct exit polling interviews, converse with a voter, or strategy inside six ft of a voter contained in the polling place. Journalists should current photograph identification to the top election choose upon arrival together with both a acknowledged media credential or a written assertion from a neighborhood official testifying to the media consultant’s credentials. Stat. § 204C.06.

Nevada

Voter rolls

Ballots

• Nevada regulation doesn’t acknowledge a proper of public entry to ballots. Ballots are secured for 22 months by the county clerk and are solely topic to inspection by a court docket order. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.391.

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• The general public and the press might observe the preliminary ballot-counting course of in addition to a recount, however state regulation doesn’t allow observers to intervene with the dedication of the Recount Board. Nev. Rev. Stat. §293B.353; Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.404.
• Registered voters can also request recordings of the ballot-counting course of — offered recordings had been made — for gratis. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293B.353.
• Further sources: Nev. Att’y Gen., Op. No. 175 (Nov. 25, 1974) (explaining that the general public entry necessities of normal ballot-counting apply to recounts as a result of “a recount is however a replay of the procedures for inspecting … the ballots as was finished instantly after the final election”).

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• In Nevada, counties might begin counting absentee ballots fifteen days earlier than Election Day — this yr, Oct. 21. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.269929. The depend should be accomplished earlier than seven days after Election Day — this yr, Nov. 12.
• County canvasses should be accomplished inside 10 days of the election — this yr, Nov. 15. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.387(1).
• On Nov. 26, the justices of the Nevada Supreme Court docket should meet with the Nevada secretary of state to overview the election outcomes, and the governor will concern a proclamation declaring which candidates have been elected to public workplace. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 293.395(2)–(3).
• Further sources: Sec’y of State for Nevada, 2024 Nevada Election Calendar.

Election outcome sources

• The Nevada secretary of state supplies election knowledge on the Silver State Elections web site.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Nevada regulation prohibits “any particular person” from talking to a voter in regards to the voter’s poll inside 100 ft of a polling place. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.740. Nonetheless, a coalition of media organizations challenged the applying of this regulation to exit polling in 2006, and a federal trial court docket agreed that it possible violates the First Modification and preliminarily blocked its enforcement. Am. Broad. Cos. v. Heller, No. 06-CV-01268, 2006 WL 3149365, at *1 (D. Nev. Nov. 1, 2006). Nevada’s secretary of state subsequently agreed to a ultimate judgment, entered by the court docket, that declared the regulation unconstitutional as utilized to the media coalition and completely enjoined the regulation’s enforcement in opposition to the media plaintiffs in future elections. Though the judgment solely utilized to the media organizations who introduced the lawsuit (ABC, The Related Press, CNN, CBS, Fox Information and NBC Common), the Elections Division of Nevada’s workplace of the secretary of state has clarified, by way of e-mail to a Reporters Committee legal professional, that the Nevada regulation, § 293.740, “doesn’t prohibit exit polling,” so journalists are free to conduct exit polls within the 100-foot space exterior polling areas.
• Nevada regulation prohibits members of the “normal public” from taking pictures or in any other case recording “the conduct of voting at a polling place,” so poll selfies are usually not permitted on the polls. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.274(2).
• Journalists who’re employed or contracted by a “newspaper, periodical, press affiliation, or radio or tv station” might observe conduct of voting at a polling place and should {photograph} or file the identical. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 293.274(1)–(3).
• Sure counties, together with Clark County, Nevada, dwelling of Las Vegas, require that “no direct or clear photographs of the poll” be captured and request that “keen individuals could also be interviewed exterior of the voting website.”

New Hampshire

Voter rolls

• The secretary of state maintains a statewide centralized voter registration database. Any particular person might view the info out there on the general public statewide voter registration guidelines on the state data and archives middle throughout regular enterprise hours, however they could not print, duplicate, transmit, or alter the info. N.H. Rev. Stat. § 654:31.III.
• A viewer might not entry the whole database however can conduct searches for particular entries. See N.H. Rev. Stat. § 654:45 (stating database, as an entire, will not be topic to disclosure below § 654.31 or New Hampshire’s Proper-to-Know Regulation, § 91-A, et seq.).
• Obtainable info contains title, deal with, voter participation historical past, and get together affiliation. N.H. Rev. Stat. § 654:31.
• “Checklists,” which present who voted, are public data which may be seen and copied for a price from every city or metropolis clerk or from the state archives. See N.H. Rev. Stat. § 654:31 (offering public entry to guidelines); § 654:25 (offering info maintained and up to date by supervisors sustaining checklists).
• Sources: NH Rev. Stat. § 654:25; NH Rev. Stat. § 654.45.

Ballots

• Ballots are exempt from New Hampshire’s Proper-to-Know regulation. Ballots utilized in an election stay sealed within the containers offered by the secretary of state till destroyed after the state and federal retention intervals. N.H. Rev. Stat. § 659:95; see additionally § 659:97 (requiring secretary of state to furnish containers and sealers to protect ballots); § 659:100 (requiring the destruction of ballots nonetheless within the city or metropolis clerk’s possession, after the retention interval expires, in accordance with § 33-A:3-a).

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• Preliminary counting of ballots is public, and “shall not be adjourned nor postponed till it shall have been accomplished.” N.H. Rev. Stat. § 659:63.
• Recounts are carried out in public, and anybody can attend. See N.H. Rev. Stat. § 660:5 (requiring ballots from the recount to be delivered to a “public facility designated by the Secretary of State.”); see additionally § 659:63 (offering counting of ballots shall be public).

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• In New Hampshire, counties might not begin counting absentee ballots on Election Day till after the polls are closed, though counties might course of absentee ballots — which means put together them for counting — as early as two hours after polls open on Election Day. N.H. Rev. Stat. § 659:49; see additionally § 659:63 (offering counting of ballots shall be public).  Nonetheless, upon a written problem of 10 or extra voters current on the polls no later than 1 p.m. on Election Day, the moderator shall postpone “the processing of all absentee ballots till after polls shut and previous to the counting of all ballots solid within the election.” § 659:49. The moderator, or the moderator’s designee, “shall submit the time at which the processing of absentee ballots shall start on the polling place and one different public location at the very least 24 hours earlier than the polls open[;]” and, that on the opening of the polls, the “moderator shall announce the time at which the processing of absentee ballots shall start.”  Id.
• There isn’t a official deadline for counting ballots in New Hampshire, though in keeping with the workplace of the secretary of state, ballots are sometimes counted inside a day or two. N.H. Rev. Stat. § 659:84 (requiring the certification of the outcomes to happen after the time for requesting a recount expires); see additionally § 660:1 (requiring recounts to be requested “no later than the Friday following the election.”).

Election outcome sources

• The New Hampshire workplace of the secretary of state posts election outcomes on its web site. In accordance with the workplace of the secretary of state, native media collect and announce town-specific election knowledge.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• New Hampshire doesn’t have particular guidelines on exit polling, besides that such exercise shouldn’t impede voters who’re coming into or exiting the polling place. The secretary of state’s Election Process Handbook for New Hampshire, final up to date for 2022-23, states that the “finest apply” is to maintain the press exterior the “railed-in space” — past which solely voters and election officers are permitted, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 659:21 — and permit exit polling to happen in an “adjoining room,” if out there.
• Cities can undertake their very own bylaws relating to, amongst different issues, “any exercise which impacts the protection, welfare and rights of voters.” N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 31:41-c. These bylaws should be given to the city clerk instantly following adoption and should be posted at every polling place at the very least 72 hours prematurely of the polls opening. Id.
• New Hampshire has a number of guidelines in regards to the permissible distances between a member of the general public, together with the information media, and any a part of the election course of. Anybody can observe voter registration in New Hampshire, however people should be greater than 5 ft away from the voter registration desk. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 654:7-c. As well as, an individual might not stand inside six ft of the poll clerk to look at the check-in of voters except that particular person obtains categorical permission from the moderators. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 659:13-a. Lastly, solely election officers could also be current inside 4 ft of the poll counting, which happens throughout the “guardrail,” although this course of is carried out publicly. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 659:63.
• Poll selfies are allowed in New Hampshire. Though a state regulation beforehand prohibited them, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the First Circuit discovered that restriction an unconstitutional violation of the First Modification in Rideout v. Gardner, 838 F.3d 65 (1st Cir. 2016), mentioned above.

North Carolina

Voter rolls

• Upon request, the county board of elections should present a listing of registered voters of the county or of any precinct.  N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-82-10(c).
• Obtainable info contains title, deal with, and get together affiliation. Id.
• A county board of elections might, upon request, additionally furnish “selective lists” in keeping with get together affiliation, gender, race, or different classes. Id.
• These supplied with “selective lists” should reimburse the board for the precise prices incurred in compiling the lists. Id.

Ballots

• Accomplished ballots are confidential and shall not be disclosed to members of the general public, “except a court docket orders in any other case.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-165.1(e).

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• Any member of the general public might observe the preliminary poll depend if she or he doesn’t intervene with the orderly counting of the ballots. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-182.2(a)(3).
• The State Board of Elections should develop guidelines for recounts enabling “alternative for public remark.” But North Carolina legal guidelines don’t include particular guidelines relating to observing recounts. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-182.7(d)(3).
• Nonetheless, recounts in North Carolina, in apply, enable observers.

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

Election outcome sources

• Dwell election outcomes might be discovered on the web site of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Numerous election legal guidelines had been modified or amended below B. 747 in 2023.
• It’s in opposition to state regulation to take {a photograph} or seize video of a voted poll. C. Gen. Stat. § 163.166.3(c).
• State regulation establishes a 50-foot buffer zone across the polling place. Journalists can’t conduct exit polling interviews inside that space. C. Gen. Stat. § 163.166.4(a).
• Members of the media want permission from the chief choose at a precinct to enter the voting enclosure. Reporters can’t take footage or file video of a voter contained in the enclosure with out each the chief choose and the voter’s consent. C. Gen. Stat. § 163.166.3(b).

Ohio

Voter rolls

• Voter registration information are public data and are open to public inspection when the workplace of the board of elections is open for enterprise. Viewers might be accompanied by a member of the board. Ohio Rev. Code § 3503.13(A).
• Obtainable registration info contains title, deal with, and voter participation historical past, however doesn’t embody social safety quantity, driver’s license quantity, phone quantity, or e-mail deal with. Ohio Rev. Code § 3503.15; Ohio Rev. Code § 3503.13.
• Recordsdata are additionally out there on the Ohio secretary of state’s web site. Voter Recordsdata Obtain Web page, Workplace of the Sec’y of State.

Ballots

• Ballots are public data in Ohio, however solely after the time interval inside which a potential recount or election contest might happen. Ohio Off. of the Att’y Gen., Op. No. 2011-012 (June 2011). At that time, ballots are topic to public inspection “below such affordable laws as shall be established” by the state’s board of elections. Ohio Workplace of the Att’y Gen., Op. No. 2004-050 (Dec. 27, 2004).

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• Ohio regulation supplies restricted public entry to tabulation of ballots. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.21(D), (F).
• In the course of the preliminary counting of ballots, counting should happen earlier than members of the board of elections and official observers. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.27.
• Within the occasion of a recount, candidates within the race to be recounted might observe the recount and should designate and appoint particular folks to look at on their behalf. Ohio Rev. Code § 3515.03.
• A 2011 directive from the Ohio secretary of state mentions the precise of most of the people to look at recounts however notes that their proper of entry is extra restricted than official observers. Directive 2011-12, Ohio Sec’y of State (March 25, 2011); Ohio Rev. Code § 3515.03; Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.21.
• For post-election audits, the Ohio secretary of state has specified that these should be open to the general public and the media. Nonetheless, if area is proscribed, official observers might be given precedence. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.331(C); Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.21.
• Further Sources: Election Official Handbook, Ohio Sec’y of State (up to date as of Dec. 20, 2023).

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• Absentee ballots could also be processed, however not tabulated, starting the day after the shut of voter registration, which includes scanning the poll utilizing automated tabulating gear. Nonetheless, county boards might not bodily depend the ballots till after the polls shut on Election Day. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.26.
• Counties sometimes full unofficial counts on election night time and transmit these outcomes to the Ohio secretary of state. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.26; Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.27.
• Official canvasses or counts should be accomplished by the twenty first day after the election — this yr, Nov. 26. The outcomes are ultimate and unamendable 81 days after the election — this yr, Jan. 25, 2025. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.32.

Election outcome sources

• There shall be “periodic reporting to the general public and the workplace of the secretary of state of the variety of votes solid for every candidate” whereas ballots are being counted. Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.27.
• Moreover, numerous counties will submit and replace election outcomes on election night time. For instance, Licking and Jackson Counties recommend refreshing their web site often for probably the most present knowledge.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Exit polling is permitted inside 100 ft of the doorway of a polling location. In Ohio, journalists are permitted to assemble exterior small United States flags positioned on the walkways resulting in the polling place.  Ohio Rev. Stat. § 3501.35.
• It’s in opposition to state regulation to take {a photograph} or seize video of a voted poll. Ohio Rev. Code § 3599.20.
• “Affordable entry” should be offered to journalists overlaying polling locations, which incorporates entry to the within of a polling location. Ohio Rev. Code § 3501.35(B)(2).

Pennsylvania

Voter rolls

• Commencing not later than the fifteenth day previous to an election, every fee shall put together for every election district a listing of the names and addresses of all registered electors as of that date residing within the district.  25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 1403.
• Voter rolls could also be inspected throughout enterprise hours, and copies could also be requested for a price. A state worker should supervise the inspection. 25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 1207.
• Obtainable info contains title and deal with. 25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 1403.

Ballots

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• Clerks can begin processing ballots at 7 a.m. EST on Election Day, though they could not start counting them till after polls shut. 25 Pa. Stat. § 3146.8.
• The County Board of Elections shall give at the very least 48 hours’ discover of a pre-canvass assembly by publicly posting a discover of the assembly on its web site. Id.
• One licensed consultant of every candidate and every political get together is permitted to be within the room during which absentee ballots and mail-in ballots are pre-canvassed. Id.
• The deadline for counting all ballots in Pennsylvania is the third Monday following the election — this yr, Nov. 25, 2024. 25 Pa. Stat. § 2642(ok).

Election outcome sources

• The outcomes of elections in federal and state elections in Pennsylvania can be found on the Division of State web site beginning on election night time.
• Supply: Election Outcomes, Pennsylvania Division of State.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Most of the people, together with journalists, should stay at the very least 10 ft away from the polling place whereas votes are being solid; exit polling is permitted exterior this space. 25 Pa. Stat. § 3060(a)–(d).
• Solely ballot watchers, peace officers, and as much as 10 individuals ready to vote might enter the polling place at any given time. 25 Pa. Stat. § 3060(a).
• In Pennsylvania, every county units its personal coverage relating to digital units within the polling place. The counties that prohibit cell telephones have indicators informing people about this rule. “If cell telephones are allowed, you possibly can take a selfie however it is best to take care to not disclose the choices of one other voter.”  Prime 5 Issues to Know About Voting, Pa. Dep’t of State (final visited Jan. 22, 2024).

Wisconsin

Voter rolls

• Voter registration data are open to public inspection below the general public data regulation, and copies could also be obtained for a price. Wis. Stat. § 6.36.  Requests could also be made on-line.
• A voter file features a voter’s title, deal with, any contact info they supplied with their registration, the electoral districts that voter is in, what elections they voted in, and whether or not they voted on the polls or absentee again to 2006. See Incessantly Requested Questions, Badger Voters, Election’s Comm’n (final visited Feb. 1, 2024).
• Ballot books, which present who voted, are additionally out there. Each registration data and ballot books are within the custody of the municipal clerk the place the voter registered. Wis. Stat. § 6.46.
• Further sources:  Wisconsin Elections Fee Public Information Request, Wis. Elections Comm’n.

Ballots

• Ballots are public data out there for inspection and copying; out there poll pictures redact voter figuring out info. See, e.g. Do It Your self Audit, County of Dane, Wisconsin (final visited Feb. 1, 2024).
• Clerks are required to retain ballots for 22 months following a federal election, after which they could be destroyed. Wis. Stat. § 7.23(1)(f).

Preliminary poll counts and recount course of

• Any member of the general public might observe the counting of ballots. Wis. Stat. § 7.41.
• “All steps of the recount shall be carried out publicly.” Wis. Stat. § 9.01.
• “[I]nterested individuals shall be entitled to be current in particular person … to look at the proceedings.” Wis. Stat. § 9.01(3).

Dates and deadlines for counting ballots

• All ballots should be counted on Election Day, after the polls shut. Absentee ballots in sure municipalities could also be counted previous to the closing of the polls on Election Day, however all ballots bodily solid on Election Day can solely be counted as soon as the polls shut. Wis. Stat. § 7.51; Wis. Stat. § 7.52.
• The ultimate deadline for counting ballots within the normal election is Nov. 11, 2024, the primary Monday after the election. Wis. Stat. § 7.51.
• The final day for the chairperson of the Wisconsin Elections Fee to certify the outcomes of the final election is Dec. 1, 2024. Wis. Stat. 7.70(3)(a).

Election outcome sources

• County clerks submit all election returns on the county web site no later than two hours after receiving the returns. Wis. Stat. § 7.60.

Exit polling, newsgathering in or close to polling locations, and poll selfies

• Members of the general public, together with journalists, might entry polling locations permitted they don’t seem to be disruptive to the election course of. Wis. Stat. § 7.41. Media is topic to most restrictions on different election observers. Wisconsin Election Observer Guidelines-at-a-Look Brochure, Wisc. Election’s Comm’n (March 28, 2022). Observers from media organizations shall establish themselves and the group to the chief inspector once they arrive on the polling place. Id.
• Journalists might conduct exit polling permitted it isn’t disruptive to the election course of. Wis. Stat. § 7.41(2).
• Pictures is permitted each inside and outdoors the polling location. Wisconsin Election Day Handbook for Election Officers, Wisc. Elections Comm’n (final visited Feb. 1, 2024). Nonetheless, photographing marked ballots is impermissible, as is inducing an elector to show a marked poll.  Wis. Stat. § 12.13(1)(f), (3)(q).
• Media might file sound, pictures, and video for brief intervals of time contained in the polling place if they don’t seem to be disruptive. They could use cell telephones or tablets to take footage and movies, which common observers are requested to not do, along with skilled photograph and video gear.