A federal judge’s ruling on Friday paved the way for so-called ballot selfies in Colorado this election.

U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello enjoined the Denver District Attorney’s Office and the Colorado Attorney’s General’s Office, among others, from enforcing laws that prosecute or cite Coloradans who take “selfie” photographs with voting ballots.

Ballot selfies are expressions of free speech, plaintiffs argued in court this week, and should be protected as such.

In coming to her decision, released on Friday afternoon, Judge Arguello cited, among other reasons, “irreparable injury.”

“Where First Amendment rights are at issue, the loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury,” Arguello ruled, citing case precedents.

Selfie ballots are protected unless they are in concert with “violations of other criminal law.”

“Nothing in this Order shall alter the ability of Defendants” which included the Denver DA and Colorado AG “or other officials to enforce any other laws, rules, or regulations to the administration of the election, including those rules in effect at polling places.”

Earlier on Friday, Colorado officials fighting the last-minute federal ballot selfie lawsuit asked the court to consider arguments made in other states in similar legal battles.

Election officials in Colorado, California and New York argued it’s too late this year to address the ballot selfie issue. Attorneys defending New York’s selfie law filed a document Thursday stating that “…regardless of the potential merits of the plaintiffs’ claim, granting a preliminary injunction at this late stage is a recipe for confusion and delays at the polls.”

The quote was cited in a “notice of supplementary authority” filed Friday morning in U.S. District Court in Denver by Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and Secretary of State Wayne W. Williams .

Colorado passed a law in 1891 making it illegal to show completed ballots. The 125-year-old law was on the books in 1902 when a Wray saloon owner offered pig feet and whiskey to voters who would support moving the Yuma County seat to his town instead of the town of Yuma. The final vote was 707-324 in favor of Wray, according to an article in the Yuma Pioneer newspaper.

An Oct. 20 news release by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey reminding people who a Colorado law makes it illegal to post selfie ballot pictures caused an uproar. Leaders of the Colorado Libertarian Party claimed the law violated constitutional rights of free speech. Attorneys filed two federal lawsuits last week in federal court: one against Morrissey and the other against Morrissey, Coffman and Williams.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuits say Colorado’s election laws are different from California and New York and therefore laws barring photographs of ballot selfies have different consequences.

“Colorado has a unique all mail election where every active voter receives a ballot by mail, and these ballots can be filled out over anywhere outside the polling places and simply dropped off. California and New York have no such system, requiring everyone to fill out ballots at polling places,” the filing says.

Taking selfies of ballots days or even weeks before an election isn’t the same as taking pictures of ballots at voting booths on election day, the plaintiffs argued.

Although the defendants in both Colorado cases filed affidavits in federal court promising not to prosecute anyone who posted selfies showing their ballots, Morrissey’s news release warning voters that posting ballot selfies is a crime remained on his website Friday.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Arguello said she viewed avowals by Morrissey’s office and state officials not to enforce the law as a concession that the law does impinge on freedom of speech rights of citizens. She also pointed out that despite Morrissey’s pronouncement not to prosecute people who release ballot selfies, Morrissey displayed the release on his website.

Morrissey’s website had become a central theme of arguments by attorneys on both sides, as well as witnesses who said after they removed their selfies from social media after seeing the news release.

The New York court filing indicated its legislature passed a law banning pictures of marked ballots in 1890, the year before Colorado enacted a similar law, to stop voter fraud.

“The provision, enacted 126 years ago, was part of 19th century legislation popularly known as the Australian ballot reforms,” the filing says. “The statute did not merely offer the voter the option of voting in secrecy, but mandated it, and for good reason.”

At the time the nation was plagued with voter bribery, the document says. Political party members bribed voters and gave them printed ballots. They then watched them vote to ensure they voted the right way, according to the New York filing. Modern technology only makes it easier to coerce votes, the motion argues.

“Without the statute, employers, unions, and religious groups could encourage their members to upload images of their marked ballots to a single location to prove their commitment to the designated candidate. Those who declined to post a selfie could be swiftly outed and subjected to retaliation,” the New York argument says.