Voting precincts in Virginia are reportedly turning voters away for not wearing masks.
PJ Media reported a Fairfax County resident and his wife were denied access to Precinct 507 in Lincolnia because they did not have face coverings.
The couple also sent the outlet a photo of a sign on the polling place’s door which required employees and visitors over the age of two to wear a mask to enter.
The policy violates the regulations established by the Virginia Department of Elections which clearly state maskless voters cannot be turned away.
“You may offer the voter curbside voting or offer them a face covering if you have any extra available. You cannot turn a voter away because they refuse to use a mask,” the DOE wrote in its official guidance on Sept. 9.
Voters can also not be turned away if they refuse to undergo a temperature check or have a temperature above average.
“A voter may insist on voting in-person,” said the DOE. “Your election official cannot turn away a voter.”
“The voters, who are fully vaxxed and wish to remain anonymous, were not offered curbside voting, as required by the DoE,” reported PJ Media. “After they insisted, election officials allowed them to use the curbside voting option. In order to exercise that option, the voters, who said they voted for Republican Glenn Youngkin for governor, were required to call a California number to begin the process, which seems … odd.”
Charlie Hurt, a reporter for The Washington Times, raised similar concerns on Twitter.
To be clear, this is illegal voter suppression. You may vote at any polling place in Virginia — even in schools — with or without a mask no matter what local election officials tell you. https://t.co/YcOmPWFJnN
— Charlie Hurt (@CharlesHurt) November 2, 2021
Matt Schlapp, American Conservative Union President, tweeted that he had been required to wear a mask while voting.
I was told at my polling station I couldn’t vote without a mask. Knowing what the GOP thinks about masks, isn’t this just an illegal barrier to voting? But I can count on one thing our judges will do nothing.
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) November 2, 2021
“The left is very aware that the right is against mask-wearing to the point of being defiant. Their hope is that telling them they’ll have to wear a mask will make them refuse on principle and never vote in the first place. It’s a dirty trick if they are trying to pull it off,” wrote The Spectator.
On Oct. 21, the state launched a ‘Vote With Confidence’ website with information on the election process and the government’s efforts to ensure the accuracy of election outcomes. While there are no mentions of face maks on the website, it does say that “a voter who arrives at the polling place without an acceptable form of identification or who refuses to sign an ID Confirmation Statement, will be given the opportunity to vote a provisional ballot.”
Voters then have until Friday to either deliver a copy of identification to their locality’s electoral board or sign an ID Confirmation Statement, where they confirm they are who they say they are.
Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin has pushed ahead of Democrat former Governor Terry McAuliffe in recent weeks.
Republican pollster and strategist Frank Luntz told CNBC he believes there is “about an 80 percent chance” that Youngkin will win.
