SELFIES may now be the most popular way to take a photo, but they could also land you in hot water at the voting booth. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed that taking a voting booth selfie is prohibited and could result in the confiscation of your phone until you’ve made your mark.

According to voting rules, you cannot take any camera equipment into the voting booth. Thabani Ngwira, provincial communications officer for the IEC said voting booth selfies could threaten the principle of the secret ballot.

“You cannot affect the confidentiality of the voting process by taking pictures of other people, but if you want to take a photo of yourself, you can outside the voting station,” said Ngwira.

“As long as people’s right to cast a vote in secret is respected and voting procedures are not disturbed, there’s no problem,” he said.

The phenomenon of the polling booth selfie is sweeping the world. Some US states forbid polling booth selfies, some allow it, while it is expressly forbidden in South Africa and the Philippines.