At least 33 states and Washington, D.C. will require or strongly recommend voters to wear masks at polling stations, an ABC News survey found.
Preparations include a raft of increased, such as separating voters and judges with plexiglass separators, spacing outlines and disinfecting surfaces.
None of the states reached out to by ABC News said they are prepared to turn away voters who refuse to wear masks, but many said they are making preparations, like trying to head off crowds by encouraging people to use mail-in ballots and or allowing curbside voting and special booths where workers can wear protective equipment.In this June 2, 2020, file photo, people wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 wait to vote in the primary election in Philadelphia.
But staying calm may not always be so easy. During the Minnesota primary in August, the city of Minneapolis reported 21 incidents where voters refused to wear masks, according to Grace Wachlarowicz, an assistant city clerk who helped run the election. Although the right to vote supersedes the state's mask mandate, she said voters still faced potential penalties for refusing to comply, or for turning down alternative voting options.
"For challenges like these, the law asks how heavy is the policy's burden on voting?" he said."Here, the burden on voting is trivial; it's perfectly easy to cast a ballot while wearing a mask." "The risk will not be shared equally," the lawsuit alleges, because of indications that Black and Latino voters are at a disproportionately high risk of being infected by the virus. The legal challenge was dismissed in August by a federal judge.A man wears a mask while voting, June 29, 2020, in Houston. Early voting for the Texas primary runoffs began Monday.
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