By J. Noel Espinoza/RioGrandeInfo

I’ve got a big surprise Thursday afternoon when I went to cast my ballot in favor of Hillary Clinton at the Brownsville Public Library.

I was tempted to photograph myself, better known as selfie, while I was in line waiting to vote.

After I identified myself to another voter as a writer for RioGrandeInfo, people were looking at each other while my son had my camera.  In other words, I didn’t know what was going on.

A selfie taken in July, 2016, at the new “One World Trade Center” building in New York City. The tower replaced the World Trade Center destroyed by terrorists in Sept. 11, 2001.

Once I voted, an election representative with a stern look admonished me that I couldn’t take any pictures, selfies, or video inside the building where people were voting.

“You can’t even put it in social media or even Facebook,” the unsympathetic lady said.

“Wow, ‘this is leading to paranoia,”’ I thought.

I happened to later read in the local newspaper that Justin Timberlake also had a similar encounter while voting in his native Tennessee.

Cameron County Elections Administrator Remi Garza said a section under the Texas Election Code prohibits the use of these devices.

“Remember, that they are prohibited when the location is being used as a voting station,” Garza said. “So it (is) more tied to when the polls are open.

If you are thinking of a selfie at the ballot box to look cute, don’t do it. It could get you arrested.

Just like Timberlake, ‘I had no idea’ voting selfie was illegal.