Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Can voters carry a gun to the polls in Pennsylvania?
In most cases, the answer is yes.
Many polling places in Pennsylvania are in municipal buildings, schools, houses of worship or community centers. Weapons normally are otherwise prohibited in schools, but a recent court case led to charges being dismissed against an adult.
While six states — Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas — have laws that generally prohibit guns at polling places, Pennsylvania has none, according to a report by two gun violence prevention advocacy organizations, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Guns Down America.
"... Pennsylvania's laws are as weak as any state that we've studied," said Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, said what he described as President Donald Trump's behavior of calling individuals to arm up and to try to intimidate political opponents pushed the organizations to issue their report. They want to ensure that election officials know the law and are prepared to address voter intimidation should it occur.
"I certainly think the heightened rhetoric that this president is using and his supporters are using really underscores the need for state election officials and for poll workers to be prepared should something happen — to ensure, frankly, that all voters can vote free of any kind of voter intimidation," he said.
What's allowed under Pennsylvania law
"In general, lawfully carried firearms are permitted inside and adjacent to polling places," said Ryan Tarkowski, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Police. "However, Pennsylvania Law strictly prohibits firearms in court facilities."
More than a decade ago, a Franklin County man openly carried a gun to the polls, and the sheriff revoked his license to carry a firearm, Joshua Prince, an attorney who represents gun-rights organizations, wrote in an article about gun rights and voting. A judge ordered that the license be given back because no law was broken.
"The right to carry a firearm while voting is a political statement protected under the First and Second Amendment," he writes.
The Constitution doesn't evaporate just because someone goes to vote, said Kim Stolfer, president of the Firearms Owners Against Crime.
State laws regarding guns are complicated, and two disaster declarations that remain in effect in Pennsylvania — one for the coronavirus pandemic and one for the heroin and opioid crisis — mean that individuals need a license to carry a weapon off of their property, Stolfer said. It applies to both open and conceal carry.
In general, weapons are not permitted in schools, but the law provides for certain defenses. Joshua Prince, an attorney who represents gun-rights organizations, won a case before the state Superior Court involving a parent, who is a carpenter, that had been accused of unlawfully possessing a pocketknife on school grounds. The state Superior Court vacated the man's sentence and ordered a new trial. The charges were dismissed.
Stolfer and Prince said individuals cannot commit a crime.
Stolfer said he would be the first one to call police if he saw someone acting recklessly, such as waving a gun. That would be a violation.
Pennsylvania is one of the more restrictive states in the nation when it comes to gun ownership, he said. He isn't aware of problems at the polls in the past.
Tensions high in presidential election
It's already been contentious leading up to the Nov. 3 election.
Supporters of the president disrupted early voting in Virginia last month by waving flags and chanting "four more years" outside of a poll, the New York Times reported. Election officials had to open a larger area of the building so that voters could wait inside — away from the demonstrators.
Pennsylvania is a key battleground state in the presidential election.
During the presidential debate last month, Trump urged his supporters to watch the polls. "In Philadelphia, they went in to watch. They’re called poll watchers, a very safe, very nice thing. They were thrown out. They weren’t allowed to watch. You know why? Because bad things happen in Philadelphia. Bad things," he said.
Poll watchers are appointed to watch the polls on election day, state officials have said. They do not watch the county election offices where voters can apply for mail-in ballots and return a completed one.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Guns Down America cited other instances of intimidation at the polls in the past.
In 2018, Pennsylvania State Police arrested a man who threatened to "shoot up" a poll after being informed that he wasn't registered to vote there, according to CNN. That same year, an armed man threatened a Black Republican volunteer at a voting location in Virginia, the Charlotte Observer reported.
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Officials need to develop a plan
Election officials should plan now for how they will handle any kind of armed intimidation, Volsky said.
They need to seek input from community members and leaders, in particular ones that would be disproportionately impacted by armed intimidation. Plans would likely be tailored to individual polling places.
Those plans would include:
"What we're trying to do is to ensure a safe polling place — not to keep people away from the polls," Horwitz said.
Working to ensure a safe, secure election
Marcus Brown, director of Homeland Security in Pennsylvania, said his agency is coordinating with local, state and federal partners to ensure the election is safe and secure.
Many of the concerns being raised were issues in previous elections as well, he said. They included allegations of rigged elections, tensions between both sides and threats of violence. Former President Barack Obama faced more threats than any other president.
"So law enforcement and public safety has been dealing with this issue for a long time," Brown said.
A state security work group, which includes state police, the National Guard, and the state Emergency Management Agency, are coordinating efforts to understand what the threats are and how they will work together to respond. They also are working with local election officials, law enforcement and county emergency management coordinators.
Officials have performed tabletop exercises and training, where they walk through scenarios and concerns. Safety is just one of the issues. Others include weather, traffic congestion, and power outages, he said.
Voter intimidation is illegal
Voter intimidation is illegal under federal and state law, Tarkowski said.
"Any activity that is intended to, or has the effect of, interfering with a voter's right to vote — whether occurring outside or inside of the polling place — is illegal, and law enforcement action is possible," he wrote.
The Pennsylvania Department of State gives a lengthy list of examples of intimidation and discriminatory practices. It includes:
If a voter feels intimidated or unsafe at a polling location, the individual can talk to election officials and notify local law enforcement, Brown said.
Victims or witnesses of voter intimidation should report it to their county Board of Elections and district attorney, according to the Department of State. Allegations are required to be investigated, and the district attorney can prosecute any violations.
Vote through the mail
One of the general recommendations in the report is to expand early voting and mail-in ballots "to reduce the risk of armed encounters on election day."
Pennsylvania started offering absentee and no excuse mail-in ballots this year. Voters can apply for one of these ballots until 5 p.m. Oct. 27.
Voters have a variety of options for returning the ballots:
Voting early in person is another option for those who want to skip going to the polls.
Voters can visit their local county elections office, apply for a mail-in ballot, fill it out and cast it — all in one visit. That's what Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar did earlier this month at the Bucks County Election Office.
“It was incredibly easy, and this early voting option is a convenient and secure choice for all Pennsylvanians,” she said in a news release.
The deadline for voting early in person is 5 p.m. Oct. 27.