Illegal to post pictures of ballot

OSHKOSH - Recall election day in Wisconsin is a week away, but plenty of people are already casting their ballots. Absentee voting started last Monday. And as of Tuesday, more than 130,000 ballots have been sent out.

"We are comparing it to November 2010 - the governor election - and so far, the numbers we are seeing are close to that," said Winnebago County Clerk Sue Ertmer.

Ertmer says more than 7,000 absentee ballots were cast in Winnebago County in the 2010 gubernatorial election. She expects that many or more to be handed out before next week's recall election. And with it will be a new notice to voters about posting pictures of their completed ballots online.

"I didn't even know anyone would think about doing that, but I suppose with all the different types of (social media) that people are doing that, so we'll send out an email today to clerks to make sure they are aware," she said.

State law prohibits voters from showing their completed ballot to anyone. Officials from both the state Republican and Democratic parties posted pictures of ballots online last week.

"People take pictures and post about everything and we just wanted to let people know that it is a felony to do so. The law was designed to keep people from being bribed for their votes," said Government Accountability Board Public information officer Reid Magney.

Outagamie County Republican Party officials would not go on camera but say they don't condone the practice of posting pictures of ballots online. Officials with the Brown County Democratic Party say they don't think anyone should do it.

"I don't see any reason why anybody would take a picture of their ballot and send it out or put it on Facebook for instance, so I would suggest that nobody do that, no matter what side you are on, but just to get out and vote," said Bob Kiefert of the Brown County Democratic Party.

"I think people were just doing it as a statement that my support is behind this candidate, and they wanted everybody to see it," said Ertmer.

One picture that is better left unsent.

So far, there have been no reports of anyone being prosecuted for posting pictures of their completed absentee ballots. But it is a felony, which could lead to a year and a half in prison and a $10,000 fine.