Not all polling sites allow guns in open-carry Indiana

Last month, New Mexico became the 22nd state to restrict guns where people vote or hand in ballots. Nine states have passed such prohibitions within the past two years, as election officials seek to prevent voter intimidation or even violence driven by false claims of election fraud.

Election disinformation, record firearm sales and fear of vigilantism at the polls are why some states are banning firearms at polling places and ballot drop boxes.

“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 Robyn Sanders of the Brennan Center for Justice, who co-authored a September report on how to protect elections from gun violence. “The presence of guns in these places presents a risk of violence.”

During Allen County’s 2023 primary election, a poll worker carried a holstered handgun on his hip at the Peace Lutheran Church polling place. Private businesses and property owners may restrict voters from carrying a weapon on their property. But in the case of Peace Lutheran, 4900 Fairfield Ave., the poll worker’s gun should never have been allowed.

State and federal law prohibit guns on school property; Peace Lutheran operates a preschool.

In a letter to the editor last year, the Rev. Kevin Mann of Peace Lutheran confirmed no firearms will be permitted within the building during elections. “Since we run a licensed preschool, the carrying of firearms on our property during voting, whether by a voter or poll worker, is not permissible under state law,” Mann wrote.

Election boards in Indiana have no authority to tell poll workers they may not carry firearms during their service on Election Day. But if the owner of a polling place bans guns from the site, Allen County Director of Elections Amy Scrogham said the board can enforce the restriction.

“Peace Lutheran is the only (Allen County polling place) we’ve heard from that actually has said that they can’t allow guns because it’s in the statute that a day care cannot have people with weapons there,” she told The Journal Gazette. The county has 113 polling sites.

Indiana has allowed handguns to be carried in public without a permit since 2022, meaning polling places throughout the state should have signs in front stating whether handguns are permitted within the building. Otherwise, local election board members like those in Allen County could be asked to remove guns from polling sites where they’re banned by law or the site’s owner.