In the 1920s armed members of the Horse Thief Detective Association, the enforcement arm of the KKK, were dispatched to scare people off from voting. [FN1] If you do not want to vote in a building that allows people w/guns to enter, here are important points: 1/10

1) During early voting & on election day (May 7 for primaries, November 5 for general), Marion County voters can cast their ballot at ANY of the Vote Centers in the county. The website for the Marion County Clerk is at this link. [FN2]. 2/10

2) If a polling site is in a school, State [FN3] and federal [FN4] law prohibit guns there, w/o regard to elections.
3) Another early voting site is on the first floor of the City-County Building, 200 E Washington St, Indianapolis. They have metal detectors. 3/10

The KKK had an armed presence at voting places to intimidate people its members hated. There was no other reason for their presence.
Possession of a firearm, concealed or not, at the voting site is absurd. 4/10

The armed voter has no authority to instrude on the voting process. To say the gun enhances voters’ rights is asinine, but putting the ass in asinine is Indy’s “gun guy,” Guy Relford, who, when asked about guns at voting sites, had this to say a few years ago: 5/10

“I would really be hopeful that anyone trying to make a point about exercising their Second Amendment rights would do that in a respectful way that wouldn’t in any way interfere with anyone’s right to vote.” [FN5] Being armed at the voting site is meant to intimidate. 6/10

When the exercise of “2A rights” is in play, unlike bullets once discharged, matters are not color blind. The Black Panther Self-defense Party was formed to stem the shootings of Black people by white Oakland cops. [FN6].Their arming for self-defense was not viewed as their right. 7/10

Please be safe in going out to cast your vote. If you stay home, D.C. Stephenson’s ideological heirs win. This iteration of the GOP is not the Party of Lincoln. 8/10

Footnotes:
FN1. Lutholtz, “Grand Dragon,” Purdue Univ. Press, 1991, p. 213.
FN2. https://vote.indy.gov/#vote-centers
FN3. I.C. § 35-47-9-2. 9/10

FN4. 18 U.S.C. § 922.
FN5. CBS4, 08/29/16.
FN6. Founded Oct 1966 in Oakland CA for armed self-defense, particularly against police brutality. Nat’l Archives, “African American Heritage,” The Black Panther Party. 10/10