Voting is a right, not a privilege

In response to the April 8 letter “Showing ID,” I would like to make a few comments.

When I vote in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, showing a driver’s license with photo ID has not been requested or required. The only requirement is my signature. A person’s signature is as unique to that person as their fingerprints. No two people in the state share the identical signature or fingerprints.

Producing a photo ID may be an easy task for the letter writer, but there are many people who lack a driver’s license with photo ID for myriad reasons. Many people, such as the elderly and physically impaired, may be unable to own or drive a car.

Voting should be made easier for people, not harder, which is currently being done in Georgia and several other Republican-led states. Perhaps Republicans should embrace legislation benefiting their constituents rather than working so hard to suppress the vote.

Voting is a right, not a privilege. Traveling by air, renting a pressure washer at Lowe’s, picking up an iPhone at Apple, purchasing alcohol, having dinner in Salt Lake City, are all privileges, not rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Major League Baseball and a few “Hollywood-types” (whatever this means) have an absolute right (First Amendment) to object to the voting restriction laws being introduced in Republican-led states.

The writer may not have had difficulty voting, but millions of voters in our poorer neighborhoods across this country have waited in long lines to vote. Now Republican legislatures in many states are asking these people not only to stand in line for hours, but also to do so without a drink of water or a bit of food. Leave it to Republicans to ignore large problems (gun violence) while directing great efforts to solve a problem that doesn’t exist (voter fraud).

PENELOPE BOSLETT-SMITH

Wilkins