PBS, YouTube team up to urge Americans to ‘Video Your Vote’

As Election Day approaches, PBS and YouTube have announced the creation of Video Your Vote, a site that gathers videotaped voting experiences for the world to see. PBS’ Judy Woodruff invites votersto shoot “the energy and excitement, as well as any problems you may see” and share the footage on YouTube. “Some of the most compelling videos will be included in PBS’s election coverage,” she says.

Check out the map here, already filling up with links to videos depicting early voting, “notable voters” and polling place problems across the country.

The site reminds videographers to remember “basic rules of decency apply,” so don’t film other voters without their consent, and it’s probably not a good idea (and could even be illegal) to peer over other voters’ shoulders as they cast their ballots. Check out this site for state-specific rules on what’s allowed in voting places. In Colorado, according to the Citizens Media Law Project, state law doesn’t “expressly prohibit all recording inside polling place,” but public display of your own marked ballot is prohibited. The group has posted a video here to explain how to document your vote within the guidelines of the law and common courtesy.

A documentarian from Colorado Springs captured the hours-long lines in El Paso County where concerns have been raised about Clerk & Recorder Bob Balink’s attempts to suppress Colorado College student voters:

And a Boulder voter documented her experience with this video:

The same consortium has also created a Twitter Vote Report where voters can share their experiences.

h/t DemConWatch.

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