Six days before Election Day, Hampton will put out an election safety guide that aims to address possible voter intimidation at the polls.
City Council will hear a presentation from the city attorney’s office Wednesday night on state laws that govern election day activities. It will review precautions in place because of the pandemic and offer steps that may be taken, such as alerting an election official if a voter feels intimidated.
It also highlights the state code that prohibits voter intimidation, plus the laws that bar carrying firearms on school property — where many of Hampton’s polling sites are located. State law does not specifically include prohibiting firearms at polling sites in libraries and community centers — which account for seven of the city’s 30 polling sites.
For this election season, Hampton recently added a satellite polling site at the former circuit courthouse on Kings Way to accommodate a surge in early voting. Voters also have the option of casting ballots at the Registrars’ office on Commerce Drive.
Hampton does not have any local laws that ban open carry or concealed carry in government buildings or other public locations.
Earlier this month, members of the Hampton Branch NAACP requested the City Council to create a local ordinance that prohibits open carry guns at all city polling sites.
“We’re going to have lines on Nov. 3,” said Gaylene Kanoyton, the branch president. “We don’t want anyone to feel intimidated while they are going to cast their votes. We don’t want anyone to feel threatened. We want everyone to feel safe when then cast their vote.”
Rebecca Wynn, a lawyer with the Hampton Branch, added that with the “contentious political climate,” the city does not want the liability of someone getting hurt.
Council members took up the matter of firearms laws in a closed session meeting last week but did not vote on any local amendments.
“We received a legal briefing last week that indicated that present laws are sufficient to address potential and actual voter intimidation at polling places,” Mayor Donnie Tuck said in an email statement.
Though the request was considered, some members felt there wasn’t enough time to craft an ordinance by Election Day.
“We plan to address it at some point,” Councilwoman Chris Snead said. “We didn’t want to rush it. We wanted it to be comprehensive. We want to vet it all and get the citizens’ input regarding it.”
Tuck says the council is divided on the issue as much as people are the community. Some are uncomfortable with seeing guns in public places, while others are uncomfortable not being allowed to carry a gun.
“One of the things we learned to have is a lot of public discussion around it because we don’t want to seem like we are rushing something,” Tuck said.
Lisa Vernon Sparks, 757-247-4832, lvernonsparks@dailypress.com
