Actually, Americans Do Want to Wear Masks to Vote

Over the next couple of weeks, as around 60 million Americans arrive at polling places to cast their ballots, they’ll face an array of safety protocols to protect them from the risk of Covid-19. Most states will require them to stand at least 6 feet apart and observe social-distancing requirements. And most will require masks for both poll workers and voters.

But not all. With the mask and other pandemic safety measures remaining a political issue, several states have explicitly said masks aren’t required, or are leaving the rules loose.

South Carolina’s rules on masks in public explicitly exclude voters and election workers. Texas’ attorney general recently reminded voters that the state’s mask mandate does not apply while voting. (In its July primary, some poll workers in Texas left when their fellow poll workers refused to wear a mask.) Indiana will provide face masks to poll workers and voters who do not have them, but it is not clear how much pressure there will be to ensure that everyone complies. Indeed, one Indiana official in charge of local elections is refusing to wear one during early voting. Alabama will allow anyone to switch to an absentee ballot by citing Covid-19 concerns—but will not require either poll workers or voters to wear a mask.

The failure to have a more stringent policy on wearing masks, especially for poll workers, could have significant effects for both turnout and public health. People who are worried about contracting Covid-19—especially those in high-risk groups— might not vote, undermining the legitimacy of the election itself. There’s also the potential for confusion as more and more people show up: This week, four Fort Lauderdale voters were turned away from early voting for not wearing a mask, but after police were called, they were eventually allowed to cast their ballots.

But the irony is that a lax approach to a mask requirement for voting is not necessary—not even politically.

That’s the surprising finding of new survey data from a study we conducted in August. Americans’ support of a requirement to wear masks at the polls, social distancing and sanitization practices is considerable regardless of party loyalty—even if it means those measures will increase lines and wait times.

Our representative nationwide survey found that 79 percent of respondents favor a mask requirement for polling places. Republicans were slightly less likely to favor masks, at 78 percent, compared with 83 percent for Democrats. But both are higher than the overall percentage of Americans (72 percent) who support a general mask mandate. Almost as many of our respondents, 74 percent, favor social distancing at the polls. And two-thirds believe election workers should sanitize voting equipment after each use. We also asked about whether states should provide a phone check-in option or appointment-based voting, though those measures had less support. Overall, a clear majority of our survey takers support at least three safety measures, even if they must wait a little longer to vote because of them.

Our data can give comfort to the governors and election officials who still haven’t issued clear guidance to voters and poll workers on safety protocols, or aren’t sufficiently adopting the safety measures that Americans overwhelmingly support. Our findings suggest they will likely not face partisan backlash for doing so.

To be clear, as scholars of American democracy, we don’t believe states should turn voters away for failing to wear a mask. Doing so would infringe upon the constitutional right to vote, and no states’ official guidance, even the most safety-minded, is this extreme. But states can, and should, require poll workers to wear a mask, offer masks to any voter who does not have one and provide clear signage about the need to wear a mask while voting. States might also offer curbside voting or a separate area for those who refuse to comply with the safety rules.

As it stands, however, many states are not doing enough on this front. Perhaps most concerningly, Texas has actually made it difficult for voters who want to keep their masks on: Its election rules will require voters to step back 6 feet and lower their masks if a poll worker cannot otherwise verify the voter's identity. A voter who refuses to lower their mask must vote a provisional ballot and then take the additional step of traveling to the voter registrar’s office after the election to have that ballot count. Although courts have upheld Texas’ photo ID law, this requirement to remove a mask may cause greater concerns at the polls, especially for the large number of voters who support a mask requirement. And unlike nearly all other states, Texas won’t allow voters to cite concern about the pandemic as a reason to vote via absentee ballot.

Our survey data suggests that Americans will feel more comfortable and secure when voting in person if states adopt these safety measures, which are also consistent with the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Especially with questions still swirling about the Postal Service and the reduction of ballot drop-off locations in many states, the adoption of these safety measures could increase in-person voting.

It is hard these days to find a voting rights issue that does not polarize Americans. But our survey data suggests that polling place safety measures are that rare issue that can bring many Americans together. States should heed this call.