The four mask-eteers at Coral Ridge Mall

It was bound to happen, given the political divide over face masks, which help prevent the spread of the sometimes debilitating, sometimes deadly, coronavirus.

Four voters – three women and a man – went to Coral Ridge Mall in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, the first day of early voting, all refusing to wear masks. With full-throated clarity, they said they had “severe asthma.” One woman waved a medical note.

The four provocateurs could have voted by mail. Instead, they chose to ignore medical advice that people with asthma wear masks in public, stand in line at one of Broward’s busiest early voting sites and test the county’s emergency ordinance that requires people to wear face masks inside public places.

A poll worker called police. The police contacted the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, which said, according to the police report, that masks were not required.

So the four were allowed to vote – even though signs throughout the mall said masks were required. This was the same mall where county officials last month fined a Target store and three people for a “flash mob” protest against the mask mandate. Monday’s incident proved that:

Some people are willing to risk their lives and the lives of other people to score political points.

If the county won’t enforce it, Broward’s mask order isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

And Broward Supervisor of Elections Peter Antonacci misled people into believing he would require face masks to vote in person.

On Oct. 15th, Antonacci issued a directive that said disruptive people would be removed from polling sites. He defined disruptions to include “individuals who refuse to comply” with the county’s emergency order, which requires people to wear masks in public places.

Four days later, however, Antonacci revised his directive to eliminate any mention of the county’s ordinance. And again, his office told police to let the four provocateurs vote.

To anyone who’s been paying attention, it should come as no surprise that four people decided to test the limits of the mask ordinance. So why didn’t Antonacci plan accordingly?

Voting sites historically make accommodations for people with physical challenges. If you are confined to a wheelchair, you’ll be given a lower-height station. If you are visually impaired, you’ll be given an approved touchscreen device to better select your choices.

Why not a system for people who refuse to wear masks because they “have asthma” or some other reason? Miami-Dade set aside separate kiosks to accommodate such folks.

We’re told that doing so might encourage more people to flout the ordinance. Hogwash. Failing to create safe polling places is the greater risk.

Antonacci would tell you that he’s not unsympathetic to public health concerns. He also worries that public awareness might spur copycats. He’d also likely emphasize that all but four people — well, maybe more, because his office didn’t hear about all such incidents during the primary — have behaved as you’d hope.

Antonacci places the enforcement burden on County Administrator Bertha Henry. As his landlord, he says, “she can do anything the law allows with management of (her) property. … How she enforces the ordinance is up to her. They’re the enforcement authority, not me. I’m here to protect the right to vote. She has an ordinance to enforce.”

We asked the county about its enforcement plans, but didn’t hear back by our publication deadline. We hope to get a full response tomorrow. We will keep you posted.

If the supervisor refuses to require masks at polling sites, Henry clearly must step up. Antonacci says she has the authority. She also has a duty to tell voters what risks they are taking, to themselves and others, if they show up mask-less.

But Henry is not the only one who needs to step up.

All of us need to step up, including people with asthma. In fact, especially people with asthma.

The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says “there is no evidence that wearing a face mask makes asthma worse.” Indeed, it says people with allergies and asthma are more likely to have the symptoms that spread the airborne virus.

Some medical websites emphasize that asthmatics should always wear masks in public. The CDC guidelines say that the only people who should not wear a mask in public are children under 2, people with breathing problems and those who are unconscious.

So come on, people. Vote, but do so safely, for us all.