FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A face mask face-off ensued at a polling location in Fort Lauderdale after some voters refused to wear a mask while casting their vote.
All polling locations in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties require that voters wear a face mask when casting their ballots.
At the Coral Ridge Mall on Monday, some voters did not want to wear a face covering. Video shot by witnesses showed people yelling at those who entered the mall without masks to cover their faces.
Poll workers had asked the maskless voters to leave the premises, but Fort Lauderdale Police allowed them to stay. They said in a police report, “The FLPD legal advisor talked with the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, where the supervisor told the FLPD legal advisor that masks were not required.”
7News reached out to Peter Antonacci, the Broward Supervisor of Elections, to find out why these voters were allowed to enter the mall. He said it is up to local law enforcement officials to make the call.
“There’s an ordinance, and I rely on people’s common sense and good faith,” he said last week. “Most people are good people, and they’ll abide by the law.”
Despite the comments to the public, police said Antonacci told them directly they do not need to enforce the rule.
Fort Lauderdale Interim Assistant Police Chief Frank Sousa said in a statement to 7News, “We have once again verified with the SOE, Peter Antonacci, that his office will not prevent a citizen from voting based on their refusal to wear a mask/face covering. It appears the polling staff has not been informed of the SOE’s position on this issue.”
Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said the ordinance is in place to protect voters and hopes law enforcement agencies enforce it.
“We ought to follow the science and the data,” he said. “It says wearing a mask is important to stop the spread of the virus. It is disturbing that folks want to break those rules. It’s not difficult. I would ask that they understand their duty to maintain a civil society, and in this instance, to help with our health and well-being.”
While police have been told voters can cast their vote without a mask, a representative for the Broward Elections Office said in a statement, “We took the extra step of reaching out to every law enforcement agency in the county and cleared the legal decks for them to be able to quickly and effectively enforce their ordinance.”
The office also provided an affidavit that asks police to enforce state and local laws, but the affidavit does not mention wearing masks.
7News Legal Expert Howard Finkelstein said if the county said for people to wear a mask, all voters must wear a mask.
“It’s also a local order you cannot smoke inside a building, so is it now OK to smoke a cigar while you vote? Of course not,” he said. “That’s why I believe, legally, you have to wear a mask while you vote.”
According to Holness, those who want to vote but do not want to wear a face mask have the option of mailing in their ballots.
Those who visit polling locations without a face mask risk the chance of being escorted out of the facility and losing the chance to cast their vote.
Other than the four voters seen without a mask at the Coral Ridge Mall, there have been no other reported incidents throughout the county.
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