To the editor:
Republicans of the Iowa legislature, after a successful election with record turnout, despite a pandemic, and no evidence of widespread fraud, you’ve written legislation to make voting harder!
I understand. You’ve got to protect the American people from their freedom to vote. Cancel them, one could say. Tread upon them.
Make the window of voting opportunity smaller — fewer days, fewer hours on those days. Of course, you will also want to close locations and ensure those that remain are in places that are difficult to get to and as far as possible from high-population areas and public transportation. Make the locations operate understaffed to ensure excessive wait times.
Flaunt your creative talents every step of the process, even when designing request forms and ballots. Maximize the tossing out of as many requests and ballots as possible, particularly for miniscule reasons. Don’t allow elected county auditors the freedom to make voting easier for constituents. Be sure to include fines and jail time for anyone who violates these sham rules.
Smack aside your support of small government and local decision-making. You can use that card another day. Feed your unquenchable desire for personal gain. The safety and future of our country is at stake.
Require a picture ID, and be strict as to what type of ID is acceptable. Toss in expensive and inconvenient to acquire, too.
And as you gather your database of potential participants, make sure that you’ve proactively removed as many names as possible. Stand strong and persevere — don’t make any part of this easy or automatic. Build barriers.
As Gov. Kim Reynolds said, “I’m proud of our system. I think we’re a role model for other states, but we should always be looking at ways that we can enhance and improve.”
It’s all about destroying our democracy by taking the vote away from as many citizens as possible by any means possible in order to stay in power, not by earning more votes in support of her policies but by suppressing more votes opposing her policies.
Silencing. Cancelling. Treading upon.
Let Gov. Reynolds know that you do not support the voter suppression legislation (Senate File 413). “Enhance and improve” Iowa and the lives of Iowans — Vote!
Laura Stebbins
Perry
