From George Vernon

Monroe

To the Editor: 

When Scott Walker won the hard-fought election in 2010, and began to implement his “reform” agenda, I recall much unhappiness with the outcome, and his agenda, but I don’t recall any cry to launch an investigation of the probity of the election itself.

When, to the surprise and consternation of tens of thousands of voters. Donald Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016, the administration of the election did not, as I recall, come under attack, or study. So excuse me if I don’t jump on the bandwagon alongside Senator Howard Marklein to examine the head-scratching question of why, now, in 2021, “so many voters distrust the validity of the elections.”  

Political parties, and democracy itself, ought to be able to withstand electoral policies that encourage citizens to vote, and make it easy and convenient to vote. People who distrust the system or sincerely believe that elections in Wisconsin are crooked or stolen should seize the next opportunity to spend 12 hours as a poll watcher. There they will observe knowledgeable public servants well versed in the intricacies of election laws, available to answer questions, and dedicated to seeing that every properly credentialed person who shows up can vote, every resolvable problem is solved, and every properly executed absentee ballot is counted. It may well be that seeds of doubt and distrust are being sown in the validity of our elections. But the responsibility for that does not lie with the bi-partisan Wisconsin Election Commission that makes the rules, nor with our non-partisan election officials who administer them.