Letters for Nov. 27, 2023
There really are no excuses
I admit that I voted for the other guys, but the good news of the Spokane city elections is that the mayor, council president and a majority of the council are now aligned rather than criticizing and denouncing each other. We should expect that they will work together to initiate programs that successfully reduce homelessness, improve public safety, help struggling businesses and increase the availability of affordable housing. There really are no excuses; I expect to see positive results in the next year or two.
H. Frank Andersen
Spokane
Thanksgiving and election integrity
Reading Sue Lani Madsen‘s recent column, I’m happy to report the topic of election security never occurs at our Thanksgiving table. We are much more interested in family, turkey and pumpkin pie!
Fortunately, we live in Washington state where the election process is professionally managed. I love our mail-in voting system. It’s convenient and secure with a signature required.
At age 74 I’ve only experienced one election with questionable results – Rossi/Gregoire. Was I disappointed in the election result? Yes. Was I discouraged from ever voting again? Of course not, voting is a responsibility I take seriously.
Do election irregularities occur? Yes I believe so. But time and time again irregularities prove to be insignificant and seldom influence final results. Widespread voter fraud is simply not a thing in our country.
Election access is of greater concern to me and I’m not a “radical progressive” nut job. It seems mostly southern jurisdictions, under the guise of election security, are taking steps to make voter poll access more difficult particularly impacting people with limited mobility.
The issue is a red herring. Addressing this “ghost” problem only serves to create voting barriers to important community populations – the elderly, poor, disabled and those with limited mobility resources. This is beyond shameful!
Vote by mail should be the national norm. In Washington state election security is simply a nonissue. I didn’t fog Thanksgiving with voter fraud talk, lest my adult children at the table think I have a screw loose.
Len Zickler
Spokane