include_blank somehow selectable?

I have a form created for an event that allows you to select volunteer duties by shift. You select the time and then the conditional group shows the select field corresponding with that time slot.

We noticed this week that we got a few “blank” field submissions (all fields are required on the form) and the only field that was blank was the ones within the conditional group. Upon testing, I can “select” the blank and it does not trigger the required error notice. However, on other select fields (which do not have the conditional field wrapper), which also have the include_blank, trigger the required field error notice.

In the meantime, I removed the include_blank so we can make sure to catch people so they’ll select a duty, but we would prefer the blank to be used.

Any ideas?