Virginia Election Officials Worry About Guns At Polling Places

Grace Palo

WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Prince William County’s electoral board considered implementing a one-day ban on all weapons at polling places located on public property due to the heated environment surrounding Election Day.

Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) pointed out that the board has no ability to ban guns from polling places, except for schools and court houses, where weapons are already prohibited by the state law anyways. After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told his supports to “watch” others at the voting boots, there has been a significant amount of concern from election officers across the state regarding potential conflict at the polls. It is a criminal offense in Virginia to use any sort of weapons to “intimidate, hinder or interfere” with a voter.

“So go to your place and vote, and then go pick some other place, and go sit there with your friends and make sure it’s on the up and up,” Trump said at a recent rally in Michigan. “Because you know what? That’s a big, big problem in this country, and nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody has the guts to talk about it. So go and watch these polling places.”

If someone is not causing any problems or creating a disturbance, that person should be left alone. If a problem does arise though and a gun owner refuses to comply with the requests from election officials regarding safety concerns, officials should call the police authorities regarding the situation.

(Photo: CNN)