To the Editor,
I am writing in response to a letter to the editor entitled, “Let’s end a voting system that breeds mistrust,” in a recent issue of The Reflector. I think the letter writer likely means well, but the reality is that Mr. Winton is actually sowing mistrust, not helping to uphold and defend election integrity.
I googled “Washington State election integrity.” I also googled “How many fraudulent ballots were cast in the US presidential election?” When I did this, numerous sites explained how Washington State ballots are already cross-checked and counted properly and thoroughly. The Brennan Center for Justice website points out that election security has been weakened by the current federal administration. (I highly recommend you read their online article, “How State Legislators Can Protect Election Integrity and Security.”) On the other hand, there were just two “outlier” alarmist sites (the Heritage Foundation and the Washington State Republicans) which promote the idea that the federal government must intervene in state counting of elections “for them to be fair.”
Mr. Winton complained about increasing numbers of immigrants in the U.S. Apparently, immigrants have harvested crops in the US for over a century. I read that about three quarters the people who harvest crops in the U.S. are immigrants, people who are providing a much-needed service. Even though immigrants can get regular driver’s licenses, they are not allowed to vote unless they become citizens, so there is no political advantage for Democrats from having immigrants in their districts. My understanding is that President Trump said he would have people with serious criminal records arrested by ICE, but changed his mind to view everyone who is undocumented as a criminal subject to being roughed up and incarcerated. This humanitarian concern is shared by many Republicans as well as Democrats.
The earlier letter writer complained that there aren’t paper ballots. Not true. There are already paper mail-in ballots that can be audited. Handwritten signatures are scrutinized to ensure they match the signatures on file.
And the earlier writer wanted people to show an approved photo ID and vote at a polling place. When I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, I enjoyed voting in person. It felt civic to cast my vote from a short line at a fire station, school, or restaurant-bar a little outside of town. You may not be aware that Alaska is a large state that has never had a population of one million, so smaller polling stations were fairly easy to find. And if you couldn’t get to your own polling station, you could vote a questioned ballot, which would be sorted out later. Compare that to Washington State, which has over eight million people. Leaving aside issues about “valid ID for voting” (the uncertainty and bureaucracy of which would undoubtedly reduce voter turnout), on-site-voting would result in an enormous traffic jam of people in lines. Some people would get discouraged and not vote. Other people won’t vote because of the uncertainty that has been erroneously introduced about mail-in voting. (And most Americans in other states still vote on a Tuesday, making it extremely inconvenient for most working people to spend a long time in line. Interestingly, many other countries vote on Sunday when more people are off work and have time to vote the day the polls are open.)
Please Google Washington State’s “Rumor has it” site. It turns out that our current vote-by-mail system is not only convenient but also extremely secure, thanks to multiple checks and cross-checks built into the ballot-counting system. Don’t be misled by people who try to tell you otherwise.
Pamela Webster
Ridgefield
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Letters To The Editor
Email: letters@thereflector.com
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