一个“千禧一代”的选民前去投票，但不允许他自拍选票并把这一瞬间发布到社交媒体上，这事儿不会真的发生过吧？
You might be surprised to learn there is an active question surrounding the *legality of so-called ballot selfies in the US, with conflicting opinions held by election officials in the Chicago area and elsewhere. Some like the idea, while others are *appalled and won’t allow photography. That means depending on where young people vote on Nov 8, or during early voting, they could get in trouble for whipping out their smartphone.
你可能没想到，在美国，所谓的“投票自拍”的合法性正成为一个热门话题，芝加哥地区以及其他地方的选举官员们意见并不一致。有人喜欢这个主意；有人对此感到震惊，并不允许拍照。这意味着，根据这些年轻人在11月8号或提前投票时所处的地方不同，他们在掏出智能手机时有可能会陷入麻烦。
But, the rules aren’t straightforward.
但是，于此相关的法令并不明确。
For example, in the Chicago, Illinois area, Cook County Clerk David Orr says all photography is banned at all polling places, citing privacy concerns. But a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners says city voters have a constitutional right to take ballot selfies. Also in Illinois, Lake County voters are being allowed to snap selfies, “as long as they don’t *infringe on anyone else’s ballot security, we are OK with it,” Lake County Clerk Carla Wyckoff said.
例如，在伊利诺伊地区的芝加哥地区，库克郡书记官大卫•奥尔表示出于尊重隐私考虑，在所有投票地点一律禁止拍照。但芝加哥选举委员会的一名发言人表示城市选民投票自拍并不违宪。莱克郡的选民也可以这样做。莱克县书记官卡拉•威科夫告诉我们：“只要他们不侵犯他人投票的安全隐私，那么我们就不介意。”
The question rarely, if ever, came up before because people in previous generations didn’t make photography such an integral part of their lives. Actually, the opposite was true. There were barriers to taking pictures, because most people didn’t carry cameras and because of privacy concerns. Polling stations were a prime example as there is a tradition of secret ballots and laws against electioneering, voter fraud and intimidation that seemed *incompatible with allowing photography.
这个问题在以前极少发生过，因为上几代人没有将照相作为他们生活中如此不可或缺的一部分。事实上正相反，因为他们大部分人不随身携带照相机而且也考虑到个人隐私的问题，所以那时候拍照有很多障碍。投票点就是明显的例子：秘密投票、禁止进行竞选活动、选民欺诈和恐吓的法律看上去很难与准许拍照的规定和谐共存。
“You never want to have that pressure of ‘Show me how you voted’,” says Orr.
奥尔表示：“你绝对不想有那种‘给我看看你怎么投的’压力。”
The *starkest argument in favor of a ban is that shooting pictures of completed ballots could encourage vote buying (show a photo to prove you voted for Candidate X and collect $10, for example). Voter fraud was more common decades ago, but the argument still carries sway. The Associated Press recently identified 18 states, including Illinois, in which current law appeared to view ballot selfies as illegal. The AP said Illinois law declares it a *felony to “knowingly” fill out a ballot and *divulge it to another person. Conviction could mean imprisonment of one to three years.
支持禁止投票自拍最明显的观点是：把填完的选票拍下来可能会鼓励贿选（拍一张照片，证明你投给了某位候选人，然后就可以拿到10美元了）。虽然现今选民欺诈不像几十年前那么普遍，但上述观点仍然很有影响力。美联社最近指出，包括伊利诺伊州在内的18个州的现有法律都将投票自拍视为非法行为。美联社表示伊利诺伊州法律认为“故意”填写完选票后泄露给他人会犯重罪，可面临一至三年的牢狱之灾。
Times change, though, and selfies rule: selfies at dinner, at Wrigley Field and, sure, at the ballot box. The internet and social media allow all citizens to express themselves, so no shock that many voters want to show Election Day pride with their ballot photos.
然而，时过境迁，自拍大行其道：吃饭自拍，看球自拍，当然投票也自拍。互联网和社交媒体允许所有公民自由表达，所以也难怪很多选民希望通过拍摄选票的照片来表达在选举日那天的自豪感。
Think of a ballot selfie as the digital equivalent of a citizenship badge. On Election Day, many people who perform their civic duty proudly wear a sticker that says “I voted” – the photo says the same thing.
你可以把一张自拍的选票照片当成是电子版的公民徽章。在选举日这天，很多行使公民责任的人会自豪地佩戴一枚“我投票了”的贴条。自拍照片想要表达的含义是一样的。
查看更多关于【英语时事】的文章
