Fox News' Sean Hannity may have broken law with ballot tweet

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Amidst warnings circulating today that it’s against the law in some states to take and post a photo of your ballot online, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, host of The Sean Hannity Show, joined the ranks of a number of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram users who have posted photos of their ballots online today.

Hannity shared the photo on his Twitter profile earlier and hist tweet, which has since been deleted, shows his ballot with all the Conservative candidates’ names bubbled in.

The move may have violated New York state law, which prohibits voters from showing their ballots “after it is prepared for voting, to any person so as to reveal the contents.” Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor.

“Many states have statutes that prohibit the display of one’s own marked ballot to others,” Jeff Hermes, of the Citizen Media Law Project, told The Atlantic. “A small number of these states only prohibit disclosure of one’s ballot in the voting room or prior to submission of the ballot, but most impose a flat prohibition on disclosure backed up by criminal penalties or cancellation of the vote in question.”

A Pew survey shows that 22 percent of registered voters have let others know online how they voted today.

Breaking these laws can lead to fines and jail time. The Citizen Media Law Project has created a work-in-progress chart providing information on each state’s laws regarding this issue.

Follow Ugonna on Twitter at @ugonnaokpalaoka