Facing increased threats to election workers and superheated political rhetoric from former President Trump and his supporters, more states are considering firearm bans at polling places and ballot drop boxes ahead of November’s presidential election, Stateline reports. This month, New Mexico became the latest state to restrict guns where people vote or hand in ballots, joining at least 21 other states with similar laws, some banning either open or concealed carry but most banning both. Nine of those prohibitions were enacted in the past two years, as states have sought to prevent voter intimidation or even violence at the polls driven by Trump’s false claims of election rigging. At least six states are debating bills that would ban firearms at polling places or expand existing bans to include more locations. The New Mexico measure, which was supported entirely by Democrats, applies to within 100 feet of polling places and 50 feet of ballot drop boxes. People who violate the law are subject to a petty misdemeanor charge that could result in six months in jail.
Over the past several years, national voting rights and gun violence prevention advocates have been sounding the alarm over increased threats around elections, citing increasing disinformation, looser gun laws, record firearm sales and vigilantism at polling locations and ballot tabulation centers. National surveys show that election officials have left the field in droves because of the threats they’re facing, and many who remain in their posts are concerned for their safety. Add aggressive rhetoric from Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and it becomes “a storm” that makes it essential for states to pass laws that prohibit guns at polling places, said Robyn Sanders, a Democracy Program counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. “Our democracy has come under new and unnerving pressure based on the emergence of the election denial movement, disinformation and false narratives about the integrity of our elections,” said Sanders, who co-authored a September report with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “The presence of guns in these places presents a risk of violence,” she added.