Ittakesalottoensure a free, fair election for all

There’s a lot to disagree with in Tim Peterson’s letter to the editor (“Dems must not follow model of dictatorship,” July 19). Let’s start with the vote, a right of most citizens that Republicans around the country are trying hard to diminish.

I have worked at our local polling place for three decades, so I know Peterson’s impression of how voting works is inaccurate. He seems to think that anyone can show up, get a ballot and vote without any kind of identity vetting. Not so. To be on the voter rolls, you have to pre-register. You must supply, in advance of the election, all pertinent information about you, including name, address and signature. When you come in to vote, your name is checked against the registration list, and you must sign in the appropriate place.

If your information doesn’t align with the official list, you can request a provisional ballot, which requires even more double-checking, both at the polling station and at the Marin County election center. Voting by mail follows much the same process of checks and doublechecks.

To engineer election fraud on a large scale would require an army of bogus voters, each assigned one specific voter identity and precinct, as well as knowledge of the voter’s signature which would be checked later against the original voter registration. If they don’t match, the ballot is thrown out.

It takes work to ensure a free and fair election. You need technical experts to keep vote counting systems secure and accurate. And you need people willing to work 14-hour days at the polling places to make sure this basic right of citizenship — to cast our votes outside the maelstrom of political pressures — remains a bedrock of our democracy.

— Martin Russell, Mill Valley