A GOP challenger was kicked out of the absentee ballot counting board center Monday in Detroit for not keeping her mask pulled up above her nose.
Robin Bozenski, 61, from Southgate, Michigan, told reporters that she couldn’t keep her mask above her nose because she has polyps in her nose that hinders her breathing, and had documentation from an ears, nose and throat doctor to prove it. Bozenski had her mask covering her mouth but not her nose.
“I have a medical reason” Bozenski shared with reporters after being removed from the absentee counting board where the processing of absentee ballots was underway.
Bozenski shared that at least seven poll workers approached her and asked her to cover her nose as she was making challenges before making an official complaint. Bozenski added that poll workers were also complaining that she was getting too close to them, but she said that was the only way she could see.
“I think it’s more pettiness in there than it is anything because I was doing some challenging and they didn’t like that.”
To justify that she is not an infectious person, Bozenski said that she had submitted a negative Covid-19 test and also showed that her temperature was 96.4, which was listed on her credential. “I’m not an infectious person.”
Describing the types of challenges she was making, Bozenski said, that she saw an instance where the numbers on the envelopes were not matching, meaning that the number on the envelope and the number scanned on the computer did not match. Bozenski also said that she challenged the weight of an envelope, thinking it was too heavy, but was told that type of challenge couldn’t be made until tomorrow when ballots get counted.
A lawyer with the Michigan Republican Party came up to Bozenski after she got kicked out to learn more about the situation. When Bozenski said she couldn’t cover her nose the lawyer, Nicholas Wittner, said she wouldn’t be allowed in even if she wore a face shield. Wittner then took down Bozenski’s notes on the challenges she made.
CNN also witnessed a second poll challenger, unclear if GOP or not, escorted out by police earlier today, seen wearing a white Halloween style mask.
A coordinator for the poll challengers says a poll worker yelled at the masked man to get away from her before police showed up. This same coordinator says the man kept telling police “slavery is not over” as he was being escorted out.
Those that checked him in as a challenger said, outside of his mask, he was behaving relatively normally during the check in process.
