Bullets and Ballots: U.S. Elections Need to Be Held

Re “Terrorists Can’t Halt Vote, Experts Say,” July 13: So we have President Bush -- in the face of the Senate report that concludes that our intelligence wasn’t very intelligent and our war on terror made war on a country that wasn’t terrorizing us -- trying to convince us that, because of 9/11, it was still a really good idea to go to war against Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11, because it made us safer.

Now the administration is instructing lawyers to investigate whether we might need to postpone the election if another terrorist act happens. If we’re safer, why plan to postpone the election? It wasn’t stopped in the Civil War.

And if we did postpone it because of some declaration of a state of emergency, how would you know when the threat was over? The real fear seems to be a Madrid-like election reaction to a terrorist act -- and an administration that fears we might actually blame it and vote it out of office.

If they postpone the election because they are afraid we might vote them out of office, would it ever be “safe” to reinstate it?

Might it be like getting the military out of Iraq? We’ll pull the troops out as soon as they stop fighting to get us out? If there is a terrorist act, I still want the right to vote this unelected regime out.

Let your representative know we don’t need a policy on when to hold elections -- we have a policy. Presidential elections are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every four years. Period.

Linda Wymore

Quincy

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Not to worry. We can all vote by absentee ballot. And when we return the ballots, just include 74 cents to cover the mailing and return. I’ll volunteer to help count the ballots. Let’s not take away from the American public what our young men and women have been fighting for in Iraq.

Emily Pomeroy

Apple Valley