Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson unveiled new restrictions this past Friday that will restrict where people can carry firearms on the day of the election near polling stations.
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The Secretary’s office said that all guns will be prohibited at polling locations, where absentee ballots will be tallied and counted. She is ordering that any individual with an openly carrying gun license is prohibited from 100 feet of any building holding an election. There are new worries as national polling stations are heightening security risks due to partisan divides. Those fears have been boosted by claims of voter fraud.
Benson’s office said that the presence of any guns “may cause disruption, fear or intimidation for voters, election workers, and others,”
She added, “I am committed to ensuring all eligible Michigan citizens can freely exercise their fundamental right to vote without fear of threats, intimidation or harassment,” The new rules direct election inspectors to put up signage notifying the public of firearm restrictions.
Fourteen men were charged late last week in federal court with crimes ranging from purchasing and providing gang materials, to providing support for a terrorist act. The new gun restrictions come a week after the FBI announced it stopped the plot to attack, kidnap and possibly murder the state’s, Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“In the last four years, the rhetoric has been heightened, and I think that we’re now in a moment where these groups feel emboldened and are growing their ranks because of a lot of the political rhetoric we’re seeing in our country,” Whitmer added.
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Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/10/16/924515201/michigan-bans-open-carry-of-guns-at-polling-locations-on-election-day
