Today Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed two bills into law, one banning open carry of guns at and near polling places and drop boxes (HB 4127), and the other prohibiting all guns at vote-counting sites (HB 4128). Michigan is the 20th state to ban open carry at the polls. New Mexico enacted a similar law earlier this year. Michigan is also the eighth state to expressly ban all guns at vote-counting sites.
Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and coauthor of Guns and Voting, a 2023 report by the Brennan Center and GIFFORDS Law Center, had the following comment:
“Guns and voting don’t mix. The two bills signed into law today will go a long way toward protecting Michigan’s voters and election officials from gun intimidation and violence. Whether they’re voters or election officials, Michiganders should be able to participate in the process without fear of gun violence. More and more states are waking up to the need to keep guns out of voting.”
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