TEXAS — Although they remain strongly recommended, not wearing a facial covering at a polling location won’t prevent you from voting in Texas. For the time being, anyway.

What You Need To Know

  • District judge ruled against Gov. Abbott's mask order exemption on Tuesday

  • Federal appeals court placed stay on judge's ruling Wednesday

  • Voters, poll workers currently not required to wear masks at polling locations

  • Appeals court to consider order concerning mask exemption 

On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals placed a temporary stay on a district’s judge’s ruling that halted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s mask order exemption for polling places.

U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam, citing statistics that show Black and Latino people are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, said the governor’s exemption “creates a discriminatory burden” on them.

The three-judge federal appeals court panel’s stay halts Pulliam’s ruling until the court considers an order that would uphold the governor’s exemption.

What that means for you is there is no requirement to wear a mask when voting, and poll workers don’t have to wear one either. Still, even Gov. Abbott has recommended you do so to limit the spread of the virus.

Abbott said his exemption was designed to keep people without masks from being turned away from polling locations.

More than 7 million Texans have already voted early.