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Michigan Bans Open Carry Of Guns At Polling Sites On Election Day

(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced Friday the state will not allow the open carrying of guns at polling places, clerk's offices and other locations where absentee ballots are counted.

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"The presence of firearms at the polling place, clerk's office(s), or absent voter counting board may cause disruption, fear, or intimidation for voters, election workers, and others present," Benson said in a press release. 

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Michigan residents are prohibited from open-carrying firearms "in a polling place, in any hallway used by voters to enter or exit, or within 100 feet of any entrance to a building in which a polling place is located."

Friday's guidance only applies to Election Day itself.

According to the press release, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel supported this decision.

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