Face it: Wear a mask when you vote and let’s talk about it. Now | Editorial

It’s what Broward Supervisor of Elections Pete Antonacci didn’t say that stirred up so much dust this week.

In the long run-up to the 2020 election, Antonacci sought to project confidence and a sense of calm, in contrast to the jittery sense of impending doom before past elections. The lawyer from Tallahassee hired and trained thousands of poll workers, relocated dozens of polling places and mailed a record number of ballots caused by the COVID-19 disruption. Things still weren’t perfect, but they ran more smoothly, and timely results arrived on primary night.

All the while, Antonacci avoided a subject he knew would stir controversy: Can voters vote if they refuse to wear masks? (Spoiler alert: The answer is yes).

The August primary came and went. About 100,000 people voted in person in Broward, and Antonacci got no word of voters refusing to mask up at polling places, though a few reportedly did. An estimated three times as many voters will vote in person in November, so the question persists: What will happen if more voters refuse to wear masks?

The Sun Sentinel reports that people who show up at the polls without face masks will be allowed to vote. They will not be turned away, Antonacci said. They have the right to vote under federal law, which overrides a countywide mask mandate.

The story touched off a furor. The elections office was bombarded with calls, some of them hostile and accusing the elections chief, an appointee of former Republican Gov. Rick Scott, of endangering public health or tilting to the anti-masker crowd that tends to be pro-Trump. As reporter Lisa J. Huriash’s follow-up article noted, every other Florida county we checked has a similar policy.

“I did not want to play into the hands of provocateurs,” Antonacci told the editorial board Wednesday in a discussion he initiated after the story broke.

Before the primary, Antonacci’s office circulated a list of precautions for voters and poll workers. It said: “Be mindful that Broward County has an ordinance requiring a face covering in all public places. You should bring a mask to vote; however, masks are available upon request at each polling location.”

Antonacci said he discussed masks Wednesday with County Administrator Bertha Henry, who issued the order on April 10. “She assured me that Broward County’s going to enforce the ordinance, and I said, ‘That’s your job,’” Antonacci told us. “I said the same thing to her I said to you: Let’s not talk about it. Let’s make sure that we’re prepared."

We disagree. Let’s talk about it.

Henry’s mask order, No. 20-07, does not mention voting. It reads: “Members of the public shall use a facial covering when obtaining essential services.” The order, expanded and updated on July 10, includes a $1,000 fine for a violation.

It’s time for Henry to reinforce to the public that the masking mandate applies to Broward’s 24 sites where early voting will begin on Oct. 19 and at 385 polling places on election day. The county has a duty to tell voters what risks they are taking, to themselves and others, if they show up mask-less.

“The county has an existing enforcement program in place,” Henry said, and there’s no election-day exemption. She said plans are underway to "allow those who come to the polls without a mask to vote without jeopardizing the safety of volunteers, staff and residents. Safety for all, including our residents, is the mutual goal.”

Nobody has a constitutional right to endanger the health of another. But we’ve learned through all of this that silence is not the answer. Henry should discuss the county’s plans unequivocally. Will people be allowed to vote, but also be slapped with a $1,000 fine? Will a separate section for mask-less voters be installed at polling sites? The public should know what to expect.

Some readers are alarmed. Frank Goodwin of Fort Lauderdale sees condoning mask-less voting as a way to suppress Democratic turnout: “How many of those mask-less fanatics who pack Trump’s rallies and ignore social distancing will be loitering through voting sites to attempt to suppress the voting of those who understand there is solid scientific reasoning behind the use of masks?” Goodwin asks.

Broward should follow the lead of Miami-Dade and have outdoor voting kiosks for the use of voters who refuse to wear masks. (Miami-Dade said no one showed up mask-less in August and outdoor voting wasn’t necessary.)

Broward also could include guidance with sample ballots it’s sending to voters, similar to what Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles did in Orlando. Every Orange sample ballot has a “COVID-19 Safety” sheet that reminds voters to wear a mask and bring a pair of gloves and a pen to the polls.

Sadly, the Florida Department of State, which oversees elections, has been silent, which means counties could make 67 different interpretations on the need for masks at the polls. At press time, Lee’s office had not yet responded to our request for comment.

“There’s not a [statewide] mask order. The Constitution gives to the states the right to regulate the time, place and manner of elections, and the gloss put on that in Bush v. Gore is that it has to be uniform,” Antonacci said. “Can’t have a different set of rules for Flagler than Hillsborough. That’s what we’re dealing with, local ordinances that are not uniform around the state.”

Antonacci told us he had not asked Lee to intervene in what he considers a local issue. Now that it has been made public and caused such a reaction, Lee owes it to Florida voters to find a way to ensure everyone gets to vote and does so without causing a public health risk.

We know this: The vast majority of voters are good citizens who follow the rules. Think of the poll workers, the people next to you in line, and the janitor who has to scrub everything down after you leave. Wear the damn mask.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.

———

©2020 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.