MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance voted early in his home state of Ohio, and people are crying foul. Not for his early vote but rather for what he did in the voting booth.
On October 9, Vance traveled to the Hamilton County Board of Elections in Norwood, Ohio, to cast his ballot.
Several viral videos show Vance handling a cellphone while standing in the Ohio voting station, seemingly taking a photo of his ballot. Critics claim Donald Trump's VP violated Ohio's election laws.
Ohio's Revised Code § 3599.20 makes it a fifth-degree felony for a voter to "allow the elector’s ballot to be seen by another… with the apparent intention of letting it be known how the elector is about to vote." The revised law in effect since 1997 carries a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in prison.
But did Vance break the law?
The videos are clips of footage originally shared by C-SPAN, seen here:
Ohio restricts sharing a voter’s marked ballot, specifically prohibits a voter from exhibiting the ballot they intend to cast, and warns against taking ballot selfies. The full video is edited to not show Vance actually marking his ballot.
Vance sets down his phone to vote after holding it over his ballot. The video doesn't show when he picked it back up or if he handled it again in the same manner after voting.
You can see the viral videos accusing Vance of impropriety here:
People called out Vance online.
As one poster of the viral video pointed out, with the emphasis MAGA Republican President Donald Trump has placed on election integrity—even if he's never provided any evidence of irregularities—his VP should be extra careful about appearances. Why rouse suspicions and doubts by handling his phone in the voting booth like Vance did?
The C-SPAN video cuts away while Vance is voting and someone can be heard telling cameras to back up as Vance enters the booth to vote.
Whether Vance photographed his ballot before or after he voted is unclear. For people in the 15 states that prohibit so-called ballot selfies who aren't the Republican Vice President of the United States, it's probably best to keep your cellphone safely tucked away while you vote.
Voting officials are less likely to be so lenient with regular voters.
@fangirlinmegan/Threads
@sarah.j_ca/Threads
@carlaaaa77/Threads
@sarahesterman/Threads
@yeetedrevelry/Threads
@24kk_bratz/Threads
@manicpop
@granted.wish.b/Threads
@heyitscourtneyem/Threads
@jessica.cruz___/Threads
@heyitscourtneyem/Threads
@missbrightside1986/Threads
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@bryancranston/Instagram
@dsteiger1/Threads
