A woman who refused to wear a mask while queuing to vote likened people ordering her to the back of the line to racial segregation.
The unidentified woman was captured on video as she and others queued at a polling station in DuPage County, Illinois, as the race between the Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump gathers pace ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Standing at the front of the queue, neither the woman or her friend are wearing masks, prompting a challenge from those behind them.
One of the voters in the line asks them to move aside, saying: “Why don’t you go to the back of the line so all these people can vote?”
However, one of the unmasked women asks if “Jim Crow laws” have been imposed again, referring to state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the south of the U.S. until 1965.
The exchange between voters was captured on video and has now gone viral after being posted on TikTok, YouTube and Twitter.
In the clip, the unmasked woman says: “Stop talking. I have every right to stand here as much as you do.”
A man wearing a black jacket and also in the line says: “We’re not arguing, we’re just saying…”
The woman’s friend responds, citing “medical reasons” are behind why she is not wearing a mask while the other woman says: “It’s none of your business.”
In the video, a gloved and masked security guard comes out of the building and tells the women to go to the back of the queue.
He says: “You’ve been told to wait at the end of the line.”
“One man, clearly annoyed by the hold up, says: “Just put on a mask and get it over with.”
The video, which has been shared on Twitter from TikTok, has notched up more than 500,000 views so far and attracted a mixed response from viewers with some saying masks should be worn to others saying masks are not mandatory to vote.
Twitter user Fifty Shades of Whey who uses the handle @davenewworld_2 posted the clip to the social media platform and said: “Entitled anti-maskers hold up the voting line & compare it to Jim Crow laws.”
The post, which is emblazoned with the word” Karens”, has notched up thousands of likes and retweets.
However, someone called Tracy using the handle @noverbalfilters urged people to leave the duo alone and not bully them. She wrote: “We have to stop dehumanizing people.”
