Letters: The power of voting

Re “One vote, in person,” Editorial, Nov. 6

My wife and I raised our children to appreciate the right to vote. Every election we took them with us to the polls, all four of them. “Daddy, why did you choose that name?” I would answer, “Because I think that person will help the poor people more,” or, “Because I think that person will make our country a more just country.” Our four children vote in every election now that they are adults.

As an almost 76-year-old, I walked several blocks Tuesday with my wife of more than 50 years to our polling place. I thank God that we are still able to vote.

Thanks to editorial writer Carla Hall for taking her wheelchair-bound 81-year-old mother to vote four years ago. And thanks to her for her article on voting.

Stan Moore

Highland Park

Re “Why do we vote?,” Opinion, Nov. 6

Sasha Issenberg writes that the reason Americans put up with long lines to vote has more to do with how they see themselves than the candidates. Throughout our history, Americans have fought war after war to uphold this right. We do not care what others think; we care about who will run our country.

America represents the best hope for freedom around the world. People in many countries struggle, fight and die for the privilege of choosing their leaders. That is our legacy and our responsibility, not how we want others to see us.

Jan Young

Foothill Ranch

Issenberg writes: “Today we will see some 130 million Americans, give or take a few, arrive at polling places knowing that they may have to stand in long lines, possibly for hours, to cast a vote for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. And the vast majority will be doing this with the awareness that, because of the way the electoral college works, their choices will have no bearing on who takes the White House.”

First, most polling places do not have long lines. Second, this is a misunderstanding of the electoral college. Of course people need to vote to be able to have the state’s electoral votes go to the candidate of their choice.

I hope that people who read Issenberg’s piece were not dissuaded from voting Tuesday. Why publish an article on election day that implies that voting is inconsequential?

Leslie Nichols

Encino

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