U.S. Midterm elections are here, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Hampshire has filed a lawsuit against the state in an effort to overturn its current ban that prohibits people from posting photos of their own marked ballot online.

New Hampshire has outlawed the ability to take photos of already marked ballots for quite some time now, but have recently updated the law to specifically ban taking digital photos and then posting them through social media sites.

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New Hampshire issues up to $1,000 fines when this law is violated. There have already been multiple cases of New Hampshire residents who were contacted by the state's attorney general soon after posting photos of their ballot through social media.

States prohibiting the ability to take photos of their marked ballot is not a rare occurrence in the U.S. In fact, just about every state holds similar bans with the exception of Alabama, Delaware, North Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and Wyoming.

Lawmakers have put these bans in place over the years with the argument that posting already marked ballots takes away from the integrity of the election. According to lawmakers, posting filled-out ballots on social media may put pressure on others or influence someone into making a false decision.

The ACLU of New Hampshire, however, has filed a lawsuit against New Hampshire state government, claiming that the bans are unconstitutional and violates first amendment rights.

What this law ignores is that displaying a photograph of a marked ballot on the Internet is a powerful form of political speech that conveys various constitutionally-protected messages that have no relationship to vote buying or voter coercion," the lawsuit reads.

Tagsmidterm elections, ACLU of New Hampshire, Bans on Ballot photo-taking, first amendment rights, constitution, Lawsuit