About voting fraud

Well, Professor Gitz, you may have hit a new low with your recent screed regarding voting. So many issues, so little space, but let’s give it a go.

Voting was made too easy? Nonsense. Voting should always be easy for those eligible to vote. Safeguards regarding registration should be very safe but not ridiculous nor discriminatory. Once that bar has been cleared, voting should be easy in every way. If you’re concerned that the resulting vote might not go your way, live with it. If you’re concerned about an uninformed electorate, consider this, and I quote: “… 80% of the members of one of our major political parties say they believe an election was ‘stolen’.” (Compare that to the 33% of Americans who with considerably stronger evidence believe in UFOs.) Why the election belief? Because despite a near-complete lack of supporting facts, their “awful” leader claims that which isn’t so. Not his first vehement assertion of a non-truth, but the voting-fraud bell having now been rung, it cannot be unrung regardless of facts. Shame on Mr. Trump for that.

My home state of Oregon has had mail-only elections since 1998. That’s six presidential elections and 12 congressional elections. To date no significant fraud has ever been detected. With many safeguards in place, eligible voters must register according to the rules. Once registered, they receive a ballot with instructions on how and by when to vote. Simple, secret, and secure — exactly what voting should be. Oregon isn’t the only state to take this route. Others have and more should. It requires building some infrastructure, but the result is well worth it. The only real risk is when the president seeks to impair the mail service. Does that sound familiar?

Get over it, Bradley. Trump lost, as did the Democrats. But democracy won.

DENNIS BARRY Little Rock