Letters to the Editor
Three Years After Harvey, Hope Has Conquered Fear
To the Editor:
COVID-19 isn’t the only thing contagious. So is fear. So is hope.
Exactly three years ago, Hurricane Harvey destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of Fayette County citizens.
Fear first traumatized those who were flooded. But as relief efforts began, fear was replaced by hope. Families who were devastated began to believe that help would come and that one day, their lives would be back to normal.
Sadly, fear traumatized other citizens, too. Fear of the unknown can cause people to react in harsh ways. It’s a normal human response.
And fear spreads. We can see that all around us in so many different ways.
But when people of goodwill reach out to help their neighbors, the goodness is contagious, too. It may take a while, but with time, it does happen.
Recovery from devastation like Harvey doesn’t come in months. It takes years. But look what has been accomplished in three years. Specifically, look what is happening in Hope Hill. Families are moving into beautiful, permanent homes. They have clear title to their homes. They will pay taxes. You can check the tax rolls and see for yourself.
And the fear felt by many is giving way to admiration and welcome. Hope is spreading. There is even hope that the government-promised buy-outs of flooded houses in our county will actually happen too. And I hope, before much longer.
Patience and persistence pay off. America is a resilient nation. Fayette County is populated by caring, giving, hard-working citizens. That’s what gets us past fear and gives us hope for the generations to come.
Larry Jackson
La Grange
Mail-in Ballots Costs GOP Votes
To the Editor:
The misinformation and falsehoods conveyed in last week’s letters in regards to mail in ballots is confounding. While I am not surprised of who espoused these misleading letters as we all well know it aligns with their politicized views. No, I am not surprised at their take. I am especially surprised that the FCR opted to print what I feel was blatantly false and misleading information even if it was the opinion of those readers.
According to the Conservative Heritage Foundation (owner of the Daily Signal), there have been less than 1,300 proven instances of election fraud leading to just over 1,100 criminal convictions since 1979 Let’s also understand that this includes not just voter fraud (duplicate voting, ineligible voting, impersonation, etc) but also altering the vote count, buying of votes, illegal assistance at the polls, etc). Figure that some 1.5 billion votes have been cast in federal elections since 1979. Even if we assume all of these cases were at the federal level that equates to a fraud rate of 0.00000087%. This is a worst case scenario. A Bookings study of 2018 election based on this same Heritage Foundation data finds that incidence fraud by mail-in states (Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) occurs at a lower rate (0.00000058%).
According to FEC commissioner Weintraub (27-May 2020) and supported by multiple factcheck sources:
• There’s simply no basis for the conspiracy theory that voting by mail causes fraud. President Trump disbanded his own commission charged with investigating voter fraud in 2018, without producing any systemic evidence of fraud despite his many, many claims.
• In 2016, roughly 1 in 4 voters cast their votes via mail-in ballot, including the President and First-Lady as well as many other senior members of the Trump administration. Needless to say, they’ve both also voted by mail in the upcoming 2020 election also.
• A Reuters poll finds that 72% of all U.S. adults, including 65% of Republicans, support a requirement for mail-in ballots to protect voters.
• Mail-in voting provides a physical record of your vote. In the event of a voting machine malfunction or if the process if compromised, having a hardcopy of your vote guarantees it is both counted and recounted in the event a recount is needed.
Now, let’s understand why the GOP and local Republicans want to deny Americans citizens mailin voting: it’s about the numbers, silly. According to the PNAS (June 2020), mail-in voting: “offers voters considerable convenience, increases turnout rates modestly, but has no discernible effect on party vote shares or the partisan share of the electorate.” It’s all about turnout. With higher turnout, Democrats tend to do better. Republicans tend to do better with lower turnout. Why is this? Simply, demographics. The youth, minorities, and socio-economic disadvantaged people tend to not vote due to the ‘inconvenience’ of in-person voting. However, these are groups that also tend to vote Democratic. So, if we can disenfranchise these groups, Republicans (which constitutes a numerical minority in American politics) can attempt to hold onto power another cycle. It’s really rather fraudulent of Republicans. This is why they fight so hard to keep American citizens from participating in our elections. This may even constitute the foundation for why they require recognition for assisting in executing local elections.
Eric Green
La Grange
Voters Deserve Choice this Election
To the Editor:
How is this still controversial? The Fayette County Record’s letters page is still rife with letters regarding mail-in ballots. For some odd reason, those letters trend toward being opposed to allowing voters to cast ballots by mail. The justifications for this opposition are specious at best. Let’s start with my favorite:
Let’s start with my favorite: “Let me point out that people are standing in line to shop at HEB, Walmart, and hundreds of other retail establishments.” (FCRP Chairwoman Deborah Frank FCR 8/14/2020) My response to that is “So what?” Of course, Mrs. Frank is correct – there are people shopping. There are also a lot of people choosing curbside pickup, delivery services, and online shopping. In other words, people are making choices. Voters should have choices when casting their ballots. To paraphrase Mrs. Frank, if curbside and delivery are acceptable choices for HEB, where we buy food, why are they not acceptable choices for voting?
Another letter-writer familiar to FCR readers had a list of concerns about mail-in voting last week. 1. Voting by mail is not less secure and, in Texas, an application is required. 2. The 83 absentee ballots received at one apartment does not reveal fraud. It reveals an apartment building that has trouble keeping tenants. 3. It was actually the Public Interest Legal Foundation that claimed that there are 28 million ballots unaccounted for. That just means that 28 million ballots were mailed out and their recipients did not use them. Perhaps they chose not to vote. In any event, they were clearly not used fraudulently. If they were, they would be accounted for. 4. The North Carolina ballot harvesting was committed by a Republican campaign. The fraud was uncovered and people are going to jail. Law and Order! I will agree with the letter
I will agree with the letterwriter on one topic, however. She is absolutely correct that Terri Hefner, Fayette County Elections Administrator, is doing her absolute best to administer a fair election while considering the safety of both voters and poll workers. I have such faith in her that I will be working at a polling location on November 3. Again, that is my choice. I recognize that other people have the right to make a different choice.
David DeLuca
La Grange
Manage Your Pooch
To the Editor:
Maybe dogs actually get more aggressive during the home stretch of continuous 100 degree August days, not sure.
Being attacked by a dog while walking or jogging is no fun, actually dangerous, somewhat traumatic and, somewhat dramatic.
It is my hope that Fayette County dog owners take care and manage their pooches. We all love em, let’s keep them safe and the folks who are enjoying their exercise experience.
Bobby J. Sellers
La Grange