Tennessee D.A. Won’t Investigate Justin Timberlake Voting Booth Selfie

Timberlake
Instagram/@justintimberlake

Justin Timberlake may have violated state law when he took a selfie in a voting booth in Memphis, Tennessee on Monday, but the incident will not be investigated by the local District Attorney’s office, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The 35-year-old singer posted a photograph to his Instagram account in which he wrote that he had flown from Los Angeles to Memphis to vote, and encouraged his 37 million social media followers to vote as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BL9rEKzBbPp/

In a statement issued after the photograph went viral, a Tennessee Secretary of State official said the incident could be investigated for a potential violation of state law. In May of last year, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam (R) signed a law banning people from taking pictures and recording video at voting sites.

Timberlake lives in Los Angeles, California, but bought a large property in Tennessee last year.

“In Tennessee, using electronic devices inside polling locations to take pictures, videos or make calls is not allowed,” Secretary of State spokesman Adam Ghassemi said in a statement early Tuesday. “We hope this encourages more people than ever to vote, but Tennesseans should only use their phones inside polling locations for informational purposes to assist while voting, like our free GoVoteTN mobile app. If polling officials discover someone violating this law they will ask the voter to put their phone away.

However, in a statement issued later Tuesday, the local District Attorney’s office said the incident would not be investigated.

“The statement released earlier (Tuesday) by my office regarding Justin Timberlake and an investigation was incorrect and was released without my knowledge,” Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said in a statement to the Commercial Appeal. “No one in our office is currently investigating this matter nor will we be using our limited resources to do so.”

While his photo doesn’t reveal who Timberlake voted for, it is safe to speculate that he voted for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

In August, Clinton attended a $33,000 per person lunch fundraiser at the Los Angeles home of Timberlake and his wife, actress Jessica Biel.

 

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson

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