How to participate

We are looking to collect photographs of every polling place in America on the November 7, 2006 election. You are welcome to participate no matter where you vote, how large or small your polling place is, what kind of ballot you use, or what your party affiliation is.

Here's how:

1. Get ready.
Anyone can submit a photograph of the November 7, 2006 election. Photography of polling places is governed by state and local law—there is no one answer for what is permissible. Check with your local state election officials. View the hours of polling places by state. You can also ask questions at Election Day Blogger's Legal Guide where Stanford Law Students will try to answer them.

2. Document democracy.
We are especially interested in photographs that document your voting experience, including what works and what could be improved. If you are wondering what to photograph, take a picture of that! We're looking of photos of interiors, exteriors and other views that are part of your voting experience.

3. Post your photo.
With your submission of photographs, you will need to fill out some basic information: name and location of polling place, time, type of ballot, and so on. The form allows you to make comments on your experience as well as make suggestions for improvements. This information will be displayed with your photographs. Other guidelines include:

• You may submit up to five photographs with a single submission.
• If you wish to submit more than five photographs, please make a second submission (however, you should post your best and most documentary photographs).
• Do not post old photographs of previous elections.
• Do not post photographs of polling places that are not in the United States.

4. See America's voting experience.
We expect photos to be posted starting Monday, November 6. You'll be able to browse photos by location, type, tags, and more.

We do ask for your name and email address, but you choose whether that information is displayed. By providing this information, you are acknowledging that researchers may contact you at a future date to learn more about your voting experience. (None of this information will be sold or distributed freely.)

This is a nonpartisan initiative, and the photographs collected will not be used to further the aims or agenda of any party or candidate.

Permissions and local laws
Photography of polling places is governed by state and local law—there is no one answer for what is permissible. Every state has different election laws, some which allow photos of polling stations and others that do not. It is important to check your states' procedures to find out what is and isn't acceptable. Most states have laws prohibiting loitering or congregation around the polling place, as well as laws prohibiting any type of intimidation or interruption of voters.

The Polling Place Photo Project, and AIGA, encourage participants in this Project to follow all applicable local, state and federal laws. (Information about specific state laws may be found by calling state election officials. View the hours of polling places by state.) Also, see this Election Day Blogger's Legal Guide where you can ask questions and Stanford Law Students will try to answer them.

Fine print
In the spirit of public access and broad dissemination, this is an open-source project. All photographs are contributed under an "Attribution No Derivatives" Creative Commons license. It is understood that all photographs may be shared with other sites, including pollingplacephotoproject.org, aiga.org, designfordemocracy.org, designobserver.com and newassignment.net. Further, the database of photographs may be distributed to other sites, commercial and non-commercial, which share our goal of encouraging voter participation in America. Photographs may be used by any news media, including online blogs, that credit the project. Photographs will not be sold individually for personal profit by any participant; any profits accured will be used to support this project, its maintenance as an archive, and expansion of the archive in future elections. See more about AIGA'sPrivacy policy. It is our goal that these photographs be used, researched and broadly disseminated, and all contributors willingly (and cheerfully) acknowledge that their photographs are a part of this public open source initiative.