⁍ A Michigan judge sided with gun-rights advocates on Tuesday in allowing the open carrying of firearms at Election Day polling sites.

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⁍ The ruling blocked enforcement of an order by state authorities barring such displays of weapons to prevent voter intimidation.

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⁍ State Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, vowed to immediately appeal the ruling.

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– On the day before the midterm elections, Michigan residents who want to bring guns to the polls can do so—but they won’t be allowed to. A judge ruled Tuesday that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, didn’t follow state law when she banned the open carrying of guns at polling sites, clerk’s offices, and other places where absentee ballots are counted, Reuters reports. The ruling came after gun-rights groups challenged Benson’s Oct. 16 order, which she said was “necessary to ensure every voter is protected.” State Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, vowed to immediately appeal the ruling, saying: “This issue is of significant public interest and importance to our election process.” Michigan is an “open-carry” state, meaning a firearm can be generally carried in public by its lawful owner without a permit, although that doesn’t apply to churches, schools, libraries, hospitals, and a handful of other public places, the Detroit Free Press reports. Nessel and the head of the state police, Colonel Joe Gasper, joined in endorsing the open-carry restriction, announced a week after 13 men were arrested on charges of taking part in a plot by armed extremists to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. At least three of those men were among dozens of armed protesters who thronged the Michigan capitol on April 30 as state lawmakers debated Whitmer’s request to extend her emergency public health authority to order social-distancing rules aimed at controlling the spread of coronavirus. The protests were widely criticized as an attempt by right-wing opponents to intimidate legislators voting on the issue.