US judge requires face masks in Texas polling locations; appeals court halts ruling

The pandemic has disproportionately affected minorities, placing them at higher risk of severe illness and death and forcing them to make “the unfortunate choice required between voting and minimizing their risk” of exposure under Abbott’s poll exemption, Judge Jason Pulliam wrote. According to Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, the NAACP has received reports of mask-less poll-watchers using this to intimidate minority voters at the polls. Read more here.