Tuesday, while in the voting cubicle in the lunchroom of my local elementary school, I pulled out my cellphone. clicked to the camera and took a photo of my ballot. In some states that was a criminal act!

"Election laws are serious business - you could be removed from the polling place and even subject to criminal penalties. Some states like Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, and Texas expressly prohibit the use of photographic and recording equipment inside polling places. - Citizen Media Law Project"

The 'why' of these laws is simple. States have tried desperately to prevent people from selling their votes. It's a tough sale without documentary proof--like a photo. But these laws were put into effect before cellphone cameras, YouTube, Flickr and the Internet. Who could have foreseen how ubiquitous cameras would become?

If I was performing a criminal act (here's a brief rundown of the laws from all 50 states) then websites that encourage photos or videos from polling sites might be accused of incitement or conspiracy (I so wish I was a lawyer right now). The decidedly left-leaning Air America is asking for photos. So are the aforementioned Flickr, with its US Election 2008 group and YouTube which is asking its members to "Video Your Vote! And Then Watch the Election on YouTube."

In the end the question probably won't be whether you broke the law but whether these laws are practically enforceable when phones fit in your pocket and nearly everyone is carrying one. Is this the initial trickle of a soon-to-come tsunami of technology advancing faster than the law?