Why Ballot Selfies Are A Terrible Idea For Workers

Indiana is facing a free speech suit relating to a law they passed making it a crime to take a photo of yourself with your completed ballot. While the law is clearly overreaching and punishes the wrong people, I think the folks saying there is no risk of voter coercion are off the mark.

In the anti-employee climate that exists now, it's only a matter of time before employers start demanding proof of how you voted. Banning the practice of ballot selfies is one way to stop this practice before it starts. Think I'm overreacting? Remember these?

• I already wrote about a Florida CEO along with others like the Koch Brothers and other Mitt Romney  supporters who told employees if Obama was elected they would lose their jobs. 
• I also wrote about the Job Creators Network, that is training employers on how to indoctrinate employees on voting for the "right" candidates.

Your employer really, really wants to be able to tell you how to vote. If voter selfies are allowed, what's to stop these employers from demanding you produce your selfie before clocking in on election day? And what's to stop them from firing you if you didn't vote the right way?

Well, there are some laws in some, but not all, states protecting you from discrimination based on political affiliation. There are also some states with a bit of protection for voters:

• Michigan prohibits direct or indirect threats against employees for the purpose of influencing their vote. It also prohibits tracking of political activity.
• Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky ban employers from posting or handing out notices threatening to shut down or lay off workers if a particular candidate is elected.
• Oregon makes it illegal to threaten loss of employment in order to influence the way someone votes. 
• Washington State makes it illegal to retaliate against employees for failing to support a candidate, ballot position or political party.
• In California, Colorado, New York, North Dakota and Louisiana it's illegal to retaliate against an employee for their off-duty participation in politics or political campaigns.
• In Florida, it's a felony to "discharge or threaten to discharge any employee in his or her service for voting or not voting in any election, state, county, or municipal, for any candidate or measure submitted to a vote of the people."

Some counties and municipalities have additional protections for voters, but the one thing that doesn't protect you, unless you work for government, is the First Amendment. You have no free speech rights if you work for a private employer. The First Amendment only applies to government action.

I think you should never take a ballot selfie for this reason. It's a terrible trend that will only be abused by unscrupulous employers if it continues. What I think the laws banning them got wrong are that they are targeting the voters rather than those who may coerce them. 

I'd propose a very simple law: make it a felony to require anyone to disclose whether they voted or for whom they voted in order to continue their employment, their housing or their access to any public accommodation. I'd go one step further and make it illegal for employers to discriminate against any employee for voting, not voting, for the way they voted, and for supporting or not supporting any candidate or party. 

Punishing voters for their selfies is probably a First Amendment violation, but punishing coercion should be the law.

Your Employer Wants To Indoctrinate You With Their Politics

I recently found out about an organization called the Job Creators Network, which some big CEOS are involved in like Roger Ailes (you know, Faux News), David Hernandez of Liberty Power (formerly with, Enron), and other big corporate heads. Their major goal in life seems to be to indoctrinate employees into voting against their own interests.

Well, that's not what they say. They say:

America’s employees, particularly non-union employees, are an untapped reservoir of support for free enterprise. Job Creators Network’s E2E Communication Program leverages employee support by providing employers across America with the tools, materials, and guidance they need to educate their employees about the impact of government policies on their jobs, pay, benefits and families. E2E promotes a better-informed public by educating employers about information they can legally provide to their employees. A well-informed public is the best defense against bad public policy.

That's right. Your employer is going to do you the huge favor of telling you how to vote. They want you to be well-informed. They have an Employer To Employee Communications Program with a toolkit for employers to explain how to "educate" you on important issues.

They have a helpful website for employers to relay their political message to employees. Here's a good summary of the message. Unions = Bad. Minimum Wage Increases = Bad. Affordable Care Act = Bad. Regulations = Bad. Personal Injury Suits = Bad. Employers = Good. Big Business = Good. Let's reduce taxes on your poor boss and eliminate those nasty unions, regulations and employment laws.

If you buy into this, I have some land to sell you west of me (west of me is the Everglades). I find the whole concept of employers indoctrinating employees in politics terrifying. They have you captive, and now they get to fling propaganda at you at will. If they have their way if you complain about your exploding Pinto you'll have to do indentured servitude at Ford for 10 years as punishment for your chutzpah. We'll be back to company stores, locked fire-hazard sweat shops, and child labor in no time.

You can expect the indoctrination to ramp up as we get closer to the elections. If you want real information about how some of these issues affect employees and don't want to buy into the big corporate propaganda, here are some places you can look to get pro-employee information.

• The Center For Workplace Fairness: These guys have a terrific website about all kinds of employment laws and political issues affecting employees.
• AFL-CIO: Yeah, yeah. Unions = Bad, or so your employer tells you. Whether or not you like unions, this section of their website analyzes the hot political issues affecting employees. Check it out on your evenings off, weekends and legal holidays, which you can thank unions for. 
• National Employment Lawyers Association: I'm a member of this employee-side organization. Their website is informative for everyone, not just lawyers. If you want to know what employee-side lawyers are working on for employees, check here.
• National Council of State Legislatures: This is a nonpartisan organization that compiles lists of what legislation the various states have pending and where it is in the process. If you want to know what's going on in any state or on the federal level in labor and employment law, start here.

Of course, you can always check here if you want to know what's the latest in employment law. You can also check out my weekly column over at AOL Jobs.

Don't buy what your employer tells you is best for your wallet. They care about what's best for their wallet, not yours. Educate yourself and get informed about the issues before you vote.