DETROIT — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced efforts to ban guns from Michigan polling locations.
Benson’s office adds she is working with lawmakers to establish a Voting Rights Act in the state.
“The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” says Benson. “The time for taking action to ensure Michiganders are safe – in schools, in grocery stores, in places where we vote and everywhere in between – is now.”
We’re told the Michigan Voting Rights Act would, in part, ban guns from entering within 100 feet of poll sites and other locations utilized during elections.
The state says the Voting Rights Act would reflect and expand voting rights voters passed in 2022 while also:
- Forbidding voter suppression.
- Increasing jurisdictions that are required to translate election material into non-English languages.
- Bolstering protections for voters with disabilities.
- Banning voter intimidation and coercion.
“Our kids deserve to go to school free from fear of gun violence,” adds Benson. “They deserve to go to church or synagogues or mosques with their families to worship free from fear of gun violence. They deserve to live in a democracy where their voices are heard and where they can cast their ballots free from intimidation or threats of violence. That is the world I am fighting for."
Benson plans to draft the new law while seeking input from election workers and advocates in collaboration with Senators Jeremy Moss, Darrin Camilleri, Stephanie Change, Sylvia Santana and Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou.
