Voter suppression

Dear Editor:

Voting brings us together as Americans—it is the one time we are all equal. But a new national task force, created to justify President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 elections, is laying the groundwork for dangerous voter suppression across the country.

Don’t let a few select politicians suppress the votes of millions of Americans.

The so-called ‘Election Integrity’ Commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, is seeking to find potential fraudulent registration on voter rolls across the country. They’ve requested personal, confidential information from all 50 states that threatens the privacy of Americans.

There is no justification for this giant fishing expedition. Stand with the League of Women Voters against these dangerous requests.

The request for voter records confirms fears of Kris Kobach continuing his tactics of voter suppression and the genesis of the Election ‘Integrity’ Commission in general. Mr. Kobach has been brought to court—and lost—several times for suppressing the constitutional rights of citizens to vote in his home state of Kansas.

This commission is not interested in facts, but rather false accusations in order to implement dangerous election policy. Its efforts to ‘investigate voter fraud’ threaten our most fundamental voting rights.

The League will not let this commission intimidate voters but we need your help. Tell your senators and representatives that you will not let anything stop you from exercising your right to vote

Ellen Taylor

VP for Advocacy

LWV of the Claremont Area

Patriotism and conscientious objectors

Dear Editor:

I was immensely pleased by the reference, in a letter in the June 30 edition of the COURIER, to the “veterans for peace, conscientious objectors and war resisters,” who should be honored.

It was difficult for me to satisfy my Local Draft Board circa 1959 of the validity of my convictions, and it was even more difficult to persuade my family of these convictions after they had been so proud to proclaim with all their enthusiasm when I was accepted to the United States Naval Academy, an honor which I declined, to their initial dismay as well as embarrassment among those to whom they had bragged so much about me. 

On their behalf, I am proud that they continued to be proud of me, as they came to understand how my convictions were based on the things they had taught me.

I thank the reader who acknowledged the role of those such as me, who served in other ways.

Don Fisher

Claremont