Mica Maynard of AlamogordoTownNews.com and KRAZY KALH Radio reports that a gun ban at polling places advanced in the New Mexico Senate approval on a 26-16 vote.
A bill to ban firearms at polling places and near ballot drop boxes won the endorsement of New Mexico’s state Senate in response to concerns about intimidation and fears among poll workers in the runup to the 2024 election.
The bill now moves to the state House for consideration after winning Senate approval on a 26-16 vote, with all Republicans and one Democrat voting in opposition. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signalled her support, putting the bill on a limited agenda for the 30-day legislative session.
Why a need for the bill? A dozen states including conservative states such as Florida, Georgia, Arizona and Georgia prohibit guns at voting locations, as legislators in several other states grapple with concerns about the intersection of voting and guns in a polarized political climate.
As votes were tallied in the 2020 presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, armed protesters carrying guns gathering nightly outside offices where workers were counting the votes in states including Arizona, Nevada and Michigan to decide who won the White House.