Story highlights State lawmakers had argued that digital images of ballots could be used to coerce or buy votes

The ruling was a win for Snapchat

(CNN) New Hampshire voters will be free to snap and share their votes this year after a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a statewide "ballot selfie" ban was unconstitutional.

Upholding a lower court ruling , the Boston-based First Circuit Court of Appeals called the 2014 law an overreaction to an unsubstantiated concern. Its application, Judge Sandra Lynch wrote, quoting from a 1957 Supreme Court ruling, was like "burning down the house to roast the pig."

State lawmakers had argued both in framing and defending the law that digital images of ballots could be used to aid in schemes to coerce or buy votes.

But the court dismissed the suggestion for a lack of evidence.

"Digital photography, the Internet, and social media are not unknown quantities -- they have been ubiquitous for several election cycles, without being shown to have the effect of furthering vote buying or voter intimidation," the decision said.

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