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To: Governor Greg Abbott
Texas Mask Up at the Polls
Texas is now one of the hotspots of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Governor Abbott issued a statewide mandate requiring Texans residing in counties with 20 or more cases to wear masks in public. Yet, there's one very important exclusion: election polling locations. In two weeks our state will hold primary runoff elections in the midst of a public health crisis. Only residents under 65 years old or with a medical disability are eligible to vote by mail. Governor Abbott must extend the statewide mask mandate to election polling locations in order to protect the health of all Texans.
Why is this important?
As of July 4th over 132,000 people in the US have lost their lives to COVID-19. Despite being six months into the pandemic, there are still many unanswered questions. However, what we do know for sure is that masking up is an effective way to prevent the spread of this virus. Wearing a mask prevents people with COVID-19 from spreading it to others. This is a crucial line of defense when combatting a virus that can be spread even if a person doesn't have symptoms. Governor Abbott knows these facts and agrees that we must all wear masks in public to keep Texas open.
Governor Abbott states that he does not want to suppress Texas voters who may not have a mask. By not extending the mask order to polling locations he will, unintentionally, suppress voters who are, appropriately, fearful of contracting COVID-19. As an emergency room pediatrician I am gravely concerned that we will see increased cases related to this election. As a state we have all sacrificed so much, we cannot allow our elections to further fan the flames of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please, tell Governor Abbott to include election polling locations in the statewide mask mandate.
Governor Abbott states that he does not want to suppress Texas voters who may not have a mask. By not extending the mask order to polling locations he will, unintentionally, suppress voters who are, appropriately, fearful of contracting COVID-19. As an emergency room pediatrician I am gravely concerned that we will see increased cases related to this election. As a state we have all sacrificed so much, we cannot allow our elections to further fan the flames of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please, tell Governor Abbott to include election polling locations in the statewide mask mandate.