Republican lawmakers say Minnesota mask order violates state law against hiding identity

A group of Republican lawmakers in Minnesota are reportedly planning to file a lawsuit over the state’s coronavirus mask mandate, seeking to have it halted before voters show up for the state’s primary election next week.

MPR News and Twincities.com reported Wednesday that the lawsuit will argue that the mask mandate issued by Gov. Tim Walz, a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, conflicts with existing law banning clothing items that conceal one’s identity in public.

“With the state of Minnesota both criminalizing wearing a mask and criminalizing not wearing a mask, people are fearful of political participation in public places,” attorney Erick Kaardal told MPR News.

“We just want the governor to work with the Legislature to figure it out because the governor is doing a very poor job constitutionally on his own,” he added to Twincities.com.

State Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) released a statement to MPR News standing by the governor’s order and vowing to defend it in court.

“I stand behind the legality and constitutionality of this executive order,” Ellison said.

Conservatives and right-leaning groups around the country have resisted efforts by local lawmakers to mandate the public use of face coverings or masks during the COVID-19 pandemic despite clear evidence showing that the coverings greatly reduce the risk of a person spreading the virus.

Wide majorities of Americans say they would support a national face mask mandate, with seven in ten saying they would support officials levying fees as punishment against those who refuse to wear masks.