Letter to my nephew who sits on the Texas Supreme Court...
Dear ......,
I am writing this letter because I was attempting to understand why the state of Texas would want to encourage voter suppression. I am speaking, of course, about why the state of Texas would try to deny vote by mail during a pandemic. Here in NM we have had no excuse absentee and early voting for decades. Your uncle and I have voted that way since the early days of our marriage (46 years in November). I do not recall any instances of voter fraud in our elections. Your uncle and I are both over 70 and we would not even consider not voting absentee in this election. Age however, should not be the only criteria. Our granddaughter, K, (your cousin Rachel's daughter) has an auto immune disorder which is an underlying condition that makes her extremely vulnerable. She is 14. Rachel is concerned about any exposure to herself that might ultimately affect K. Therefore she has also voted absentee.
So, it appears from an outsider's point of view, that the only reason to deny vote by mail is to suppress the vote of citizens who by law, should be allowed to vote. I lived through the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and recall very clearly the unbelievable treatment of minority citizens in southern states. As a young girl, it was difficult for me to believe that such rampant and obvious discrimination and cruelty existed in our country. As a person of Hispanic and German ethnicity, who looks Hispanic, it was truly clear to me that "there but for the grace of God, go I." Our minority brothers and sisters in the South, including in Texas, died in order in order to achieve full citizenship and with that, the right to vote. As I am sure you agree, free and fair elections are the pillars of Democracy. Suppressing the vote of any citizen, is a direct blow to our Constitution and our Democratic government. This should not be a partisan issue.
It seems clear then, that any form of voter suppression is an attempt to hold on to power when those holding power fear they could lose it if every vote is counted. Voter suppression takes many forms. Requiring certain forms of identification without making that identification easy to obtain and cost free, is suppression. Arbitrarily removing voters from roles without prior notification and for frivolous reasons is suppression. Closing early voting sites and shortening early voting days in minority neighborhoods is immoral and an obvious effort to keep citizens from voting. Someone's perception that a signature is too different from a voter signature and thus invalid is voter suppression. People's handwriting changes over the years for several reasons....illness, stroke, stress, and age. I hope you can agree with that. The question remains then, why is there such a massive attempt to keep people from voting? Could it be, as the President said, that if everyone voted that was entitled to vote, no Republican would ever be elected again? That kind of thinking should be the motivation to become more inclusive in outreach, rather than to engage in desperate attempts to hold on to power.
As I previously indicated, I am genuinely interested in the thinking that accompanies these legal decisions regarding voting rights. It is disheartening to me to think that we may be moving to discount all the gains that our country has achieved over the last 50 years. I sincerely hope that I am mistaken.
Hope all is well with you and your family,
With love and respect,
Aunt M
= new reply since forum marked as read
Perfect letter.
That you have the opportunity to reach out personally to someone in this position is wonderful. That you have chosen to do so is even better. I hope this person listens to Aunt M and acts accordingly.
And welcome to DU!
I hope your letter makes it to his desk and that you get the courtesy of a reply. I'd love to know what he says.
It's an essay many, many people ought to read and take to heart.
