(WWJ/AP) A judge has blocked a sudden ban on the open display of guns near Michigan polling places on Election Day.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray acted Tuesday, just a few hours after hearing a challenge from a trio of gun-rights groups.
They said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, had exceeded her authority in banning people from openly carrying guns within 100 feet of polling places, and that she was forcing people to choose between their right to bear arms and their right to vote.
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Issuing the directive to clerks earlier this month, Benson said: “The presence of firearms at the polling place, clerk’s office(s), or absent voter counting board may cause disruption, fear, or intimidation for voters, election workers, and others present. Absent clear standards, there is potential for confusion and uneven application of legal requirements for Michigan’s 1,600 election officials, 30,000 election inspectors, 8 million registered voters, and thousands of challengers and poll watchers on Election Day.”
Critics argued, much like Murray ruled, that Benson failed to go through a formal rule-making process as required under state law.
"The executive branch can't make the laws. Legislatures, they make the laws -- not the governor, not the Secretary of State, those people can't make the laws," said WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton. "That's what this judge said today."
In a statement in response to the ruling, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's Press Secretary Ryan Jarvi said, "We intend to immediately appeal the judge’s decision as this issue is of significant public interest and importance to our election process."
If the ban is indeed in place on Election Day, it's not clear how many people may choose to ignore it. Some sheriff's in Michigan said they had no plans to enforce to ban, even prior to Tuesday's developments.
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