Why voters in Joe Biden's home state don't have to wear masks at the polls
Despite Delaware Gov. John Carney's requirement that Delawareans wear face coverings in public, mask-less voters will be able to walk into polling places to cast their ballot on Election Day.
Masks are strongly encouraged, but not required when voting. Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence said the decision was made in consultation with the state Department of Justice.
While elections officials want to prove the safest environment possible, voting is a fundamental right, Albence said. He described the rule as "trying to balance everyone’s needs and everyone’s concerns."
"We don’t deny anyone’s right to vote if they don’t wear a mask," Albence said. "We really strongly encourage it. It is not an absolute requirement."
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While it may seem contradictory to the Carney administration's consistent message that Delawareans should wear face masks, the Elections Department is allowing it because the democratic process trumps the pandemic-era mandate, according to New Castle County Elections Office Deputy Director Howard Sholl.
"(For) people who don't wear a mask, the instructions are: Get them in and out and don't cause a scene," Sholl said.
Each polling place will also have spare masks available if a voter forgot their mask but wants to wear one, Albence said. Poll watchers, who with the Elections Department's permission are allowed to sit inside a polling place and observe the process, are required to wear masks.
Voters who refuse to wear a mask will not be "singled out" or treated differently, and mail and absentee voting is probably "the best bet" for voters who don't want to risk contracting the virus, Albence said.
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"People have options," Albence said. "Take advantage of those options."
When taking questions from reporters during his weekly coronavirus press briefing on Tuesday, Carney addressed the mask issue. He said that he's tried not to become "personally involved in these decisions that affect elections" because he's on the ballot, but that his administration recommends that people wear masks.
"The administration of elections is done by the Department of Elections, and they make those decisions based on recommendations from Public Health," Carney said, adding that the state is allowing vote-by-mail this year so that voters "don’t put themselves at risk by going to the polls and possibly exposing themselves to somebody who’s COVID-19 positive."
The general election will be the first time all registered voters will be able to cast their vote from home, thanks to universal mail-in legislation passed by the General Assembly in June. The option is only in effect for this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and will be a test for whether the Elections Department can handle all the absentee and mail-in ballots.
For those who do vote in person, the Elections Department plans to sanitize every touchscreen voting machine after each voter uses it. Touchscreen poll books will also be cleaned.
But that's not enough for democratic organizers like Jill Itzkowitz, the elections and voting committee chair of the Delaware League of Women Voters, who is urging voters who are concerned about contracting the virus to vote absentee or by mail.
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"Legally, they’re allowed to do it," Itzkowitz said about voters going into the polls without a mask. "We might not like it, but we’ll abide by the law."
More than 735,000 Delawareans are eligible to vote in the general election, and experts expect this year's turnout to reach its highest rate in more than a century.
Voters who want to avoid crowds on Election Day don't have much time left to cast a ballot by mail.
Despite Delaware law allowing elections officials to mail ballots as soon as the Friday before Election Day, the United States Postal Service in July warned state election departments that it cannot adjust its deliveries "to accommodate the requirements of state election law" and absentee voters need to receive and mail their ballots at least a week before Election Day to ensure their votes count.
Delaware is a ballot-in-hand state, meaning the returned ballot has to be in the hands of elections officials by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, which is when polls close. Elections officials are urging mail voters to request and send off their ballot as soon as possible to avoid any hang-ups in the mail.
Voters who are anxious about their snail mail ballot arriving to elections officials in time can also drop their ballot off at an elections office in the county where they live. Drop boxes will be accepting ballots until polls close on Nov. 3.
The state is keeping all of its polling places open for those who are still comfortable voting in person. Registered Democrats and Republicans were able to vote from home in the July presidential primary and September state primary, and the results revealed that Republicans tended to vote in person while Democrats were more likely to vote by mail.
Since the start of the pandemic, President Donald Trump has vacillated in his messaging over whether he believes face coverings are effective. Local Republican politicians have also raised doubts over whether face coverings and other social distancing restrictions are necessary, despite public health officials emphatically and repeatedly saying that they greatly help mitigate the spread of the virus.
That includes Division of Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay, who addressed the issue of face coverings at the polls during Carney's press briefing on Tuesday.
"Wearing masks is so incredibly effective for decreasing the spread of the infection," Rattay said. "So, from the public health perspective, we strongly urge anyone who is either working in a polling place or going to vote in a polling place to please wear a face covering."
What are my rights?
Here are some of your voting rights in Delaware under state and federal law:
If you are registered to vote, you are entitled to vote.
You can’t be coerced, threatened, hindered or intimidated by any person or corporation when voting.
If you’re still in line to vote after polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, you can still vote.
If you make a mistake on your ballot, you can ask a poll worker for a new one.
If voting machines are down at your polling place, you can ask for a paper ballot. However, Delaware has multiple machines at each polling location for redundancy, according to Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence.
If your name isn’t in the poll book, you can still vote with a provisional ballot. You’ll be notified in writing when you vote as to how you can find out whether your vote was counted and, if not, why not.
If you’re blind or physically disabled, you can bring up to two people to help you vote.
If you moved or changed your name without telling the Department of Elections, you can vote at the polling place of your address on Election Day by correcting your address on Election Day before you vote.
If you need help in the voting booth, two elections officers from different parties have to help at the same time. They can’t influence your decision, and they have to leave before you cast your vote.
If you believe your voting rights have been violated, call the state elections commissioner, the elections office in your county or the Department of Justice:
Delaware State Elections Commissioner - (302) 739-4277
New Castle County Office - (302) 577-3464
Kent County Elections Office - (302) 739-4498
Sussex County Elections Office - (302) 856-5367
Delaware Department of Justice - (302) 577-8400
Sarah Gamard covers government and politics for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach her at (302) 324-2281 or sgamard@delawareonline.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @SarahGamard.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Why Delaware voters don't have to wear masks at the polls
