Voter Suppression – According to Our Wonderful Attorney General, You Can You be Prevented From Voting For Not Wearing a Mask.

So the New Hampshire Attorney General has released “guidance” for voting in the age of COVID.

The Attorney General claims that local voting officials have the authority to require voters to wear masks … as long as “alternatives” are provided to voters who are “unwilling” to wear a mask:

Q1: Can local officials require voters appearing in-person at a polling location, to wear face coverings/masks to enter the polling place room used by voters wearing face coverings/masks?

A: Yes. Moderators have broad authority to manage the polling location. The right to vote, however, cannot be denied to an otherwise eligible voter who is unable or unwilling to wear a face covering/mask. Moderators who implement face covering/mask requirements, therefore, must provide registration and voting alternatives to voters who either are unable or unwilling to wear face coverings/masks inside the polling location.

The Attorney General does not say, however, in concrete terms what constitutes an appropriate alternative:

While there are no hard and fast guidelines, alternative means must allow the voter to register and vote efficiently, privately, and in a manner that best allows the realization of the full extent of that voter’s right to vote.

Instead examples are provided. These examples include setting up another, separate polling place for unmasked voters. Click on one of the links above for more detail.

But what about the scenario where the local election official tells the unmasked voter something to the effect of “we’re swamped. You can either be a good boy and wear your mask … or you can wait here until someone can get to you.” And the unmasked voter is told that it is impossible to say how long he or she may have to wait.

In that scenario, if the unmasked voter says waiting for some indeterminate amount of time is unacceptable (for example, he or she is voting on his lunch hour, or has to get to work), it is OK … according to the Attorney General … for the local election official to decide that the unmasked voter has forfeited his right to vote:

Q2: What should election officials do if a voter chooses not to absentee vote prior to Election Day, is unable or unwilling to wear a face covering/mask at the polling place, and rejects the alternative voting options offered at the polling place?

A: In light of the severity of COVID-19, if a voter is unable or unwilling to wear a face covering at the polling place and also rejects the alternatives offered for registration and voting, election officials may inform the voter that he/she cannot enter the polling place to vote.

Needless to say, the Attorney General’s advice is ass-backwards. Voters to whom COVID presents an actual risk (the very elderly and/or those with preexisting serious medical issues) can vote absentee … so can voters who simply believe that COVID presents a risk to them. As for the health of poll workers, they can wear masks.

Also, if the votes of the unmasked are kept physically separate from other votes … what guarantees do we have that these votes actually get counted in the general election? There are limits on how many poll observers campaigns can deploy. What’s to stop a Democrat poll worker from losing, destroying, hiding, etc. the votes of the unmasked … knowing that these votes likely will be disproportionately cast for Trump.

Sad to say, but in order to do everything possible to ensure that your vote is counted, you are likely going to have to bend-the-knee to Emperor Sununu and wear a mask when you vote.