Letters to the Editor (Aug. 15)

Fixable polling problems

I was a poll monitor last Tuesday, My polling place, 1900 E. 9th Street, is in a predominantly African American precinct. Construction on 9th made it one lane and caused problems for voters. It took 45 minutes of circling to find the entrance. How many voters gave up after driving in circles to find an access street? Will the construction be there for November?

Then the doors to the facility locked at 5 p.m. for those trying to enter. Had I not been sitting there to open them, dozens of voters would have been unable to vote. The staff was too far from the door to be aware of this problem.

Three people reported that their cards came out of the machine blank. They reported the problem and were helped, How many may not have noticed? Address issues caused many to be given provisional ballots that don’t count except in very close races. Even Wichita treasure Karla Burns faced this, as well as a veteran with proper ID.

Thank goodness for the ACLU’s army of volunteers and its Election Protection Hotline to whom we reported these issues, so many were resolved.

Correct these problems by November, please.

A protest’s timing

The stadium is packed with fans escaping daily routines, hearing the semi-truths of advertisements, seeing attractive cheerleaders, a fighter-plane flyover, and then a puzzling thing happens.

Cutting through our weekly escapism, players have the audacity to kneel during the national anthem, introducing a reality: the ignoring of racial injustice. That realty isn’t acceptable to all; it is unpatriotic to bring it up. Postpone that reality to “later” — again.

Voter enthusiasm

I was once young, now I am old. I travel about with the “spear of age in my side.” I expect no sympathy and receive none.

What I do expect is political representation. When I e-mail guys like Sedgwick County Commissioner Richard Ranzau and state Sen. Lynn Rogers, D-Wichita, I get a response. It is often not the response I want, but I feel represented nonetheless.

One thing about “Old White Guys,” to paraphrase the campaign slogan from commission candidates Renee Duxler and Lacey Cruse, is that we always hobble to the polls and get voting done.

Congressional privileges

I received a slick, four-page color advertisement for Rep. Ron Estes. This mailer purports to give me information about Estes’ service as my congressman.

The piece provides some basic information about his committees and his office locations, but otherwise this piece of mail is nothing but a glorified campaign ad. The return address shows that this is “official business” from the U.S. Congress and states, “This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.”

How much did I pay the advertising firm that put together this puff piece? What was the cost of the printing itself? What was the value of the franking privilege that was used to mail it out? I want my money back.

I do not pay my tax dollars to have the incumbent congressman send me a slick mailer promoting his services in an election year. There should be a law against this sort of misuse of the taxpayer dollar. I hope my congressman sponsors that legislation.