Letter to the editor: Wisconsin voting debacle unconscionable

It is utterly unconscionable that the people of Wisconsin were forced to choose between exerting their basic right to vote and their health as in-person voting took place in the midst of a pandemic. The result was predictable: The majority of polling places did not have sufficient staff to operate, and many voters waited in lines for hours. The blame for this debacle can be placed squarely at the feet of Wisconsin’s Republican elected officials, who stood in the way of delaying the primary election and measures that would have made it easier and safer to cast a ballot.

The Republicans do not want to make voting simpler, and the president has brazenly told us why he objects, that when mail-in balloting and early voting are permitted, more people will vote and Democrats will benefit disproportionately, i.e., suppressing votes is in his interest. He can expect solid support from Trumpublican members of Congress.

In Pennsylvania, and just in the nick of time, no-excuse absentee balloting is finally law. Voters may receive mail-in ballots automatically for current and future elections. This should be a model for all states if we wish to live up to the nation’s mantra of fostering and encouraging the people’s right to vote. That right should not be infringed by forcing citizens to wait for hours as a highly contagious and lethal disease is ravaging the country.

Voters of goodwill, particularly those in Wisconsin, should remember that the GOP has clearly stated that it does not care about the very lives of American citizens.

Oren Spiegler

Peters