Matt Vasilogambros | (TNS) Stateline.org
As a result of increased threats to election workers and intense political rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and his supporters, a growing number of states are considering prohibiting firearms at polling places and ballot drop boxes before the upcoming presidential election in November.
This month, New Mexico joined at least 21 other states in limiting guns at voting locations or when turning in ballots, with some states banning open or concealed carry, and most prohibiting both. At least nine of these bans were put in place in the last two years, as states have sought to prevent voter intimidation or violence at the polls driven by Trump’s false claims of election rigging. Additionally, at least six states are discussing legislation to ban guns at polling places or expand existing bans to cover more areas.
The recent New Mexico law, which received full support from Democrats, applies to within 100 feet of polling places and 50 feet of ballot drop boxes. Those who violate the law may face a petty misdemeanor charge that could lead to six months in jail.
Democratic state Rep. Reena Szczepanski, one of the bill’s sponsors, stated, “Our national climate is increasingly polarized. Anything we can do to reduce tensions and ensure the safe exercise of our fundamental democratic right to vote is crucial.”
Szczepanski and her co-sponsors introduced the legislation after poll workers in Santa Fe, who experienced harassment from individuals openly carrying firearms during the 2020 presidential election, reached out to them.
The bill includes an exception for individuals with concealed carry permits and members of law enforcement. Nonetheless, all Republicans in the New Mexico legislature opposed the measure, expressing concern that gun owners might be charged with a crime for accidentally bringing their firearm to the polling place.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, House Minority Floor Leader Ryan Lane, a Republican, stated, “We have a lot of real crime problems in this state. It’s puzzling to me why we’re making this a priority.”
In recent years, national advocates for voting rights and gun violence prevention have been sounding the alarm about increased threats surrounding elections, attributing these to growing disinformation, looser gun laws, record firearm sales, and vigilantism at polling locations and ballot tabulation centers.
National surveys have indicated that election officials have been leaving their positions in large numbers due to the threats they are facing, and many who remain are worried for their safety.
National surveys show have shown election officials leaving their roles in large numbers due to the threats they face, with many expressing concerns for their safety.
Robyn Sanders, a Democracy Program counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice, emphasized the urgent need for states to enact laws prohibiting guns at polling places, referring to the aggressive rhetoric from Trump and the emergence of the election denial movement as factors contributing to heightened pressure on the democracy.
Sanders highlighted the new and unsettling pressure on the democracy stemming from the election denial movement, disinformation, and false narratives about the integrity of elections, which she co-authored in a September document. report about how to keep elections safe from gun violence. The report was a collaboration between the Brennan Center and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
“The existence of guns in these places creates a danger of violence,” she said.
Higher risk environment
In the past four years, threats have expanded beyond voicemails, emails or social media posts. Armed vigilantes have intimidated voters at ballot drop boxes and appeared at outside vote tabulation centers. Others have apparently shot at targeted local election officials.
While several states have passed laws in recent years criminalizing threats to election officials, some states want to go further by implementing gun restrictions.
This year, primarily Democratic lawmakers in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia have introduced legislation that would prohibit most firearms in or near polling places or other election-related locations. Most of these bills remain in committee.
A few of the states have experienced political violence in recent years, including Pennsylvania, where a man attempted to enter a Harrisburg polling place in November with a firearm and behaved threateningly, confronting voters and pointing an unloaded gun at an unoccupied police cruiser.
A legislation in Virginia to prohibit firearms at polling places was approved by the state legislature on a party-line vote this month, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has not yet taken action on the legislation. His press office did not respond to a request for more information.
Two Democratic-backed bills in Michigan aim to ban most firearms at or within 100 feet of polling places, and ballot drop boxes and clerks’ offices during the 40 days before an election. They have passed the state Senate but await votes in the House.
Democratic state Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, the sponsor of one of those bills, told Stateline she expects the legislation to pass in April, after special elections fill two vacant seats.
“We want to ensure that we’re able to attract the necessary election workers, and that they feel secure performing those jobs,” she said. “Sadly, we’re seeing more and more gun violence throughout our state and our nation. And I strongly believe that everyone should feel safe when they’re voting.”
But these bills are “good for headlines and nothing else,” said GOP state Sen. Jim Runestad in a statement on the Senate Republicans’ website.
“When one considers the sheer number of drop boxes placed throughout larger communities, like in the city of Detroit, these places could be nearly impossible to avoid,” he wrote, referring to gun owners.
One of his proposed amendments that failed would have exempted gun owners carrying guns for non-election-related business, such as going into a store near a ballot drop box.
In 2020, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson attempted to ban firearms within 100 feet of polling places, clerks’ offices and absentee ballot counting centers. But Michigan courts blocked her effort, finding she didn’t have the authority.
Michigan was one of many states where election officials faced violent threats during the 2020 presidential election. Last month, a man admitted to being guilty to federal accusations for making a threat on the life of former Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton, stating that she deserved to be harmed.
There is widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans to prohibit firearms at polling places. As per a 2022 poll a survey of over 1,000 adults conducted by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, almost 80% of Democrats and over half of Republicans and independents surveyed believe that guns should be prohibited at polling places. In total, 63% of adults surveyed are in favor of a ban.
However, this bipartisan support has not resulted in action from state legislatures.
Where exactly are the bans?
In recent years, states controlled by Democrats have led the effort to ban firearms at polling places, with only a few Republican lawmakers teaming up with Democrats to pass bills in certain states.
In 2022, Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Washington state implemented restrictions on firearms at polling places. In 2023, California, Delaware, Hawaii and Maryland joined the list.
Nevada’s primarily Democratic legislature approved a similar ban last year, but Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed it. He believed that the measure would have violated the constitutional rights of Nevadans. said Maryland’s prohibition is being challenged
in court by gun rights organizations and activists who argue that such bans violate Second Amendment rights and are not effective. Andi Turner, a spokesperson for the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association, which is part of the legal challenge, stated that “It’s a solution searching for a problem. We do not have individuals making threats at polling places or attacking election workers. I do not understand why this needs to be a priority.”
The states that had bans on firearms at polling places before the 2020 presidential election now have legislatures controlled by Republicans: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas. the lawsuit Georgia’s ban goes back to 1870, and in 1874, the state Supreme Court ruled that having a firearm at a polling place was something so improper, shocking and completely useless and harmful that it would be odd if the framers of the constitution had used language broad enough to provide it with a constitutional guarantee.
Jessie Ojeda, the guns and democracy attorney fellow at the Giffords Law Center and one of the co-authors of the joint Brennan and Giffords report, suggested that more Republican-led states should consider prohibiting firearms at polling places.
Advocates for gun safety such as Ojeda see an opportunity for these laws, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that expanded the definition of protected firearm access. While the court overturned New York’s law that banned firearms in public, it did leave open the possibility of bans in “sensitive places,” particularly wrote polling places.
Ojeda said, “We need to take action before 2024. We are seeing an increasing number of incidents where firearms are fortunately not being used to harm people, but they are being used to threaten and discourage voters and election officials from performing their duties.”
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At least six states are considering laws that would prohibit guns at voting locations or broaden current prohibitions to cover additional areas. stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
