Voters Prohibited from Using Cell Phones Inside Polling Place Except for Informational Purposes

The Tennessee Legislature has passed a law prohibiting the use of cell phones inside the polling place, except for informational purposes.
“This is something that needed to be addressed by the legislature and codified into law,” said Dennis Stanley, DeKalb County Administrator
of Elections. “Until this law passed, local election commissions could or could not adopt a similar policy, which the local commission did two years ago. Now, the issue is addressed in state law and there is conformity state wide.”
The legislation states a county election commission cannot prohibit a voter from using a mobile electronic or communication device at the polls “for informational purposes to assist the voter in making election decisions.”
However, the measure goes on to say a voter “shall be prohibited from using the device for telephone conversations, recording or taking photographs or videos while inside the polling place.”
The law also gives election commissions the authority to “require that any mobile electronic or communication device be silenced while in use at the polling place.”
“Election commissions all across the state are charged with protecting the integrity of the ballot and this law will help them do that,” Stanley added.
The bill calls for the law to go into effect January 1, 2016.