St. Charles County Election Authority v. Doe [1]

An anonymous blogger who sponsored a fake campaign [2] for St. Louis Blues hockey player T.J. Oshie to become mayor of O'Fallon, Missouri posted a photograph of a ballot with Oshie's name written in. (Although the blog [2] remains, the photo -- available here [3] -- has been removed.) This is an apparent violation of Mo. Rev. Stat. § 115.637 (14) [4], which prohibits a voter from "allowing his ballot to be seen by any person with the intent of letting it be known how he is about to vote or has voted." Violation is a a class-four election offense, punishable by up to a $2,500 fine and/or up to a year in jail.

What the blogger probably saw as a harmless prank was taken seriously by St. Charles County elections director Rich A. Chrismer, who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch [5] that the blogger "violated the law, and I'm going to prosecute." "They may have thought the photo was cute," he continued, "but it was very serious."