Hours after Tennessee authorities said onTuesday they were investigating pop star Justin Timberlake forposting a photo of...
Hours after Tennessee authorities said onTuesday they were investigating pop star Justin Timberlake forposting a photo of himself in a polling station on social media,the local district attorney said no such probe was under way.
"The statement released earlier today by my office regardingJustin Timberlake and an investigation was incorrect and wasreleased without my knowledge," Shelby County District AttorneyGeneral Amy Weirich said.
"I am out of town at a conference.No one in our office iscurrently investigating this matter nor will we be using ourlimited resources to do so," she said.
A representative for Timberlake did not respond to requestsfor comment.
The singer and actor appeared to have run afoul of Tennesseeelection law when he posted the photo, the latest controversyover so-called ballot selfies.
Timberlake, 35, posted the photo on Monday and said in thecaption he had traveled from Los Angeles to his hometown ofMemphis to take part in early voting ahead of the Nov.8election.
"Get out and VOTE! #exerciseyourrighttovote," Timberlakesaid in part of the photo´s caption, which was posted onInstagram, a social media site where he has over 37 millionfollowers.
Tennessee law prohibits voters from recording or takingphotographs or videos inside a polling station.The Shelby County district attorney´s office had said onTuesday it was aware of a possible violation of state electionlaw and was reviewing the matter, before clarifying that theoriginal statement was incorrect.
A person convicted of the violation can be sentenced to upto 30 days in jail and fined $50, the office said previously.The proliferation of cellphone cameras and social media hascreated conflicts in states that have laws against taking photosinside polling booths and sharing photos of marked ballots.
The laws, which in some cases predate the social media age,are intended to prevent voter intimidation and any slowing ofthe voting process.On Monday, a federal court sided with a Michigan man whosaid the law there banning voters from taking pictures of theirmarked ballots and sharing them on social media violated hisconstitutional right to free speech.The court haltedenforcement of the law.
In Colorado, two voters filed a federal lawsuit on Mondayseeking to overturn a state law there that criminalized theshowing of a completed ballot to others, arguing that the banwas unconstitutional.