Governments must be held accountable HR-1 bill would make elections more fair

The sub-headline “Federal government shutdown slows investigation by NTSB,” Jan. 1, is misleading since the Times Union has been reporting for weeks that the Schoharie County District Attorney and the State Police have prevented the National Transportation Safety Board from pursuing its investigation. I am sure that all of our state officials are so upright that the DA and the State Police have no intention of preventing the NTSB from indicating that the state with its lapse in inspection protocols and Schoharie with its road design and maintenance procedures may have had any contributory responsibility for that terrible accident. Most everyone is doing the best they can with limited time and resources. But unless each of us recognize when we have made mistakes and hold ourselves accountable for our mistakes, we do not grow and get better. That especially holds true for governments.

John Knutson Schenectady

Money talks. We want to hear what it says before we vote. Disclosing tax returns will tell us volumes about a candidate.

Stopping corruption and other criminal acts in government is my objective. HR-1 is a crime bill.

HR-1, now before Congress, will create elections that are more fair and honest. Those who have nothing to hide will relish and allow the light this bill will shed on campaign finance, ethics and voting rights of our elections. Money talks, so knowing the source of it for political organizations (the Disclosure Act) and political ads (the Honest Ads Act) is important to voters.

Our electoral system is disregarded by a majority of our populace and disrespected by many more because of the private money involved. HR-1 will help even the financial playing fields by allowing for modified publicly financed elections.

To further enhance confidence in our elections, voting rights need to be restored. A new national automatic voter registration and early voting are a must. As well, restoring the Voting Rights Act and ensuring election security will go a long way in building faith in our election systems.

HR-1 will help curtail the criminal acts of corruption in our elections. I hope my representative, Rep. Elise Stefanik, will vote for it.

Lawrence Fine Greenfield