While many voters already know where they stand, guns at the Michigan polls are going to be a question for the courts to decide.
Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued an order banning the open carry of guns within 100 feet of a poll although guns are already banned at schools and churches, where many polling locations are held.
Attorney Dean Greenblatt says that needs to change and he said he's filing a challenge to her order in court. This comes as local sheriffs across the state say they won't enforce the gun ban and Robert Stevenson, director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, says they have no authority to do it anyway.
For his part, Greenblatt says, "When a school or a church serves as a polling place it's a polling place, it's not a church or a school."
And then he takes his argument in another direction and claims the ban needs to end due to racial reasons.
"If I'm a middle aged, white, fat, balding middle class white guy driving an SUV I don't need to have any issue with the Secretary of State's pronouncement. But if I"m maybe a person of color in Wayne County and I don't have a CPL because the Wayne County clerk is not accepting applications for CPL until late summer 2021, I'm concerned about my personal safety."
Detroit is the largest city in Wayne County, and heavily Democratic.
Benson, and others, have said guns at the polls are meant as a voter intimidation tactic.
"This is not a ban on firearms, this is an effort to protect our voters from intimidation, threats and harassment on Election Day itself," Benson said.
But there is momentum on the other side, too. Steve Dulan, an attorney with the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, told Bridge Magazine a lawsuit challenging the edict could come as soon as today.
Benson said Tuesday that she's confident her ban would hold up in court. She said her legal authority comes from state laws against voter intimidation as well as constitutional protections of the right to vote. Benson's order was crafted with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a fellow Democrat, Bridge Magazine reported.
In the meantime, the Michigan State Police has been ordered to enforce the ban at polling locations.
Massive voter turnout is expected to cast ballots in the 2020 presidential race, although more than 3 million Michiganders have requested absentee ballots, more than a third of the state's 7.7 million registered voters and already, more than 1.5 ballots have been returned.
