Los Angeles Times

Don’t fret over DMV errors

-

Re “Put ‘motor voter’ on hold,” editorial, Oct. 11

Errant voter registrati­ons that occurred due to an IT database conversion error at the Department of Motor Vehicles have no relationsh­ip to the mythologic­al beast of illegally cast votes.

Out of more than 1 billion votes cast in this country since 2000, only a few dozen credible instances of voter impersonat­ion are said to have taken place. You have a better chance of being hit by lightning twice during your lifetime than living in an area where voter fraud has happened.

We need more programs to register voters. We need more programs to help voters actually vote, like early voting and free rides to the polling places. The DMV’s “motor voter” problem is easily rectified. Lopsided election results caused by wholesale voter suppressio­n and vote theft are not easily rectified.

We put men on the moon and brought them all back alive to Earth. Fixing the DMV’s database conversion problem is not rocket science. David Siegel Los Angeles

I agree with The Times Editorial Board that the DMV should put its “motor voter” system on hold.

When I read an article about errors that had been made by the DMV that included registerin­g a Canadian noncitizen (as an example), I was appalled. Just one example of this type of error, let alone the 23,000 inaccurate registrati­ons that have been reported, would be all any losing candidate would need to declare “voter fraud” and make a case for an illegitima­te election.

This is a no-brainer: The DMV must suspend its voter registrati­on system now and work on fixing the errors that were made. Terri Fox Torrance

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States