By MADISON BROWN<\/p>\n
With Election Day less than two weeks away, some states are offering early voting.<\/p>\n
Justin Timberlake flew to Tennessee from California to take advantage of the state\u2019s early voting opportunity.<\/p>\n
While inside the voting booth in Memphis, Timberlake snapped a selfie. He then uploaded it to Instagram, encouraging his followers to \u201cget out and vote.\u201d<\/p>\n
What seems like a well-intentioned public service announcement may have gotten the singer in trouble with the law.<\/a><\/p>\n As it turns out, a new Tennessee law<\/a> that prohibits citizens \u201cfrom using the device for telephone conversations, recording, or taking photographs or videos while inside the polling place\u201d took effect in January. Committing the crime is a misdemeanor, and the penalty could be up to 30 days of jail time and a $50 fine.<\/p>\n Timberlake was unaware that his selfie was against the law in Tennessee.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, ‘This is gonna be great, I’m gonna inspire people to vote,\u2019\u201d Timberlake said on NBC’s Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon<\/em><\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Selfies are a big part of today\u2019s news media, especially with the popularity of social media sites.<\/p>\n Many celebrities use their media spotlight and large fan followings to speak about issues that are important to them. Timberlake has nearly 40 million Instagram followers.<\/p>\n If he did not inspire his followers to \u201cget out and vote,\u201d hopefully he at least inspired them to get out and check their state laws before posting voting selfies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By MADISON BROWN With Election Day less than two weeks away, some states are offering early voting. Justin Timberlake flew to Tennessee from California to take advantage of the state\u2019s early voting opportunity. While inside the voting booth in Memphis, … Continue reading