photo by Adam Fagen
“Dear PoPville,
I went to the Cleveland Park library to vote early yesterday after work at about 6pm. A man in a gray suit came into the polling place by himself and asked the elections supervisor if he could film inside because he was a member of “the media.” The supervisor sent him outside to talk to someone about filming, but shortly thereafter
the man was back inside the polling place scanning the room with his phone, presumably taking video. It made me very uncomfortable given the expectation of privacy I hoped to have while doing my civic duty. I asked him to stop filming and he said he would not because he had permission from the polling place supervisor, wasn’t capturing people’s faces, and as a member of “the media” was entitled to film inside the polling place. He didn’t have any visible credentials or anything to identify himself. It seemed suspicious.
Does DC allow filming inside polling places? Some voters might be deterred from voting if there are people taking video inside polling places. (And next election, I’ll use the drop box!)”