Arizonans like voting by mail
Arizona voters have been voting by mail for literally decades — since 1991.
According to the U.S. Elections Project, in November 2020 an average of almost 72% of all Arizonans used vote by mail.
State Sen. David Gowan wants to do away with vote-by-mail with SB 1404, claiming voters might miss crucial information if they use their mail-in vote too soon. State Sen. Wendy Rogers supports him, claiming voter fraud, after a multitude of such legal challenges were thrown out of court, and the Maricopa Cyber Ninjas disappeared in disgrace and bankruptcy.
Arizona voters are proud of their safe, secure, convenient vote-by-mail election system.
Sen. Gowan should look at how many Republicans voted by mail: 1,238,488 requested ballots, 73.8% returned them.
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SB 1404 is simply another egregious effort at voter suppression. Voters: please call or email your senators, or use Request to Speak, and say no to SB 1404.
Jennifer Dawson
Midtown
Scary season has already begun
Dear editor,
I know most of us, myself certainly included, are not looking forward to the upcoming political battles. Ads for candidates for Congress are already appearing on our TV screens. It’s going to be a long and fractious nine months, and to be honest I am terrified at the possible outcome.
As you listen and evaluate the candidates, I would just like you to be aware that billionaire Peter Thiel just announced that he is stepping down from the board of Meta, parent company of Facebook, and devoting his time and vast amount of money to electing Trump-aligned candidates.
He is throwing his resources behind candidates who presumably share his beliefs, i.e. Trump-aligned candidates.
I am very scared. I think you should be too.
Beth Dingman
Green Valley
We must learn from our past
Re: the Feb. 5 article “AZ House votes to ban critical race theory.”
I read this article with alarm. I doubt that any of the legislators who voted on this issue have read “The 1619 Project,” which should be essential reading before having an opinion. I doubt that many understand what CRT actually is. It is confusingly named. “Critical” implies criticism but in fact it is critical that we all have a more complete understanding of our country’s checkered history. It is also critical in that it criticizes many policies and actions involving race relations in the past and how these have affected people of all races past, present and future. Every professional knows that if we don’t recognize and learn from our mistakes and those of others we are likely to repeat them. Most of our forefathers were remarkable but imperfect human beings, and some also made some bad — even unforgivable choices. This may diminish, but not erase, their greatness. CRT is not theoretical, it’s an expanded, more nuanced understanding of the complexities of race in America.
Herschel Rosenzweig
Foothills
I’ll clear every voting hurdle
This one’s for Sen. David Gowan and his cronies who are foolishly attempting to dilute our voting system in Arizona: Removing my right to vote early or by mail will not stop my vote. Removing the voting poll close to my house will not stop my vote. Changing the voting time schedule to one of inconvenience will not stop my vote. You can weaken my voting privileges but you cannot weaken my will and determination to vote. For I will rise early or stay up late. I will travel. I’ll do what it takes. And I will vote.
Alison Hughes
Midtown
Phony objections to early voting
Thank you, Sen. David Gowan for your interest in protecting voters from making uninformed decisions by voting too early. Typically, Republicans get all excited when people try to meddle and tell them what to do, unless it suits them (think plastic grocery bags, for instance). The hypocrisy and condescension in your proposed law is amazing — voters are too dumb to make their own decisions, so we’ll help them by telling them when to vote! As to Sen. Wendy Rogers’ concerns that early voting encourages fraud — show us! There has been and is no provable fraud arising from this practice. I, too, am an American and don’t want my vote canceled, or made more difficult to cast by hypocritical state senators. Talk about fraud with our delusional former president, if you wish — you are helping him perpetrate it.
Artjur stables
Midtown
Clowns occupy the AZ Capitol
Who opened the doors to the funny car in Phoenix and let out the clowns?
Recent articles in this newspaper have indicated that our Legislature or individual members are contemplating several changes to our current legal system that seem rather absurd.
One is the idea that since the necessary food and medications are exempt from sales tax, that guns are also a necessary in our daily lives and should be exempt from tax, too.
Another suggested change by the fools is that guns should allowed on university and college campuses. According to the clowns, this will make the campuses a safer place.
Finally, a recent article indicated that the Arizona tradition of mail-in voting is being challenged due to alleged fake ballots in the 2020 election even though a thorough audit by the Cyber Ninja Clown Crew found no irregularities.
We, the voters, have to reopen the doors to the funny car, stuff the clowns back in and elect legislators that are in tune with the majority of Arizonans.
Joseph Kane
Oro Valley
Gov. Ducey, hear my plea
Gov. Doug Ducey, as I watch my grandson thriving in a public elementary school in Tucson, I am so concerned about the pending financial crisis facing our public schools throughout the state. Please work with legislators to ensure that legislation is passed lifting the aggregate expenditure limit for this year and repealing the limit in the future. A thriving Arizona economy depends on a thriving public school system. And my grandson’s educational attainments depend in large part on the state of Arizona action on the funding of public education. Hear my plea!
Kay Davis
Southwest side
COVID exposed our weaknesses
Irresponsible lawmakers have made sure that we failed the test of COVID-19. We are approaching 1 million deaths, many unnecessary.
Our enemies with biological weapons see a country where half of the population refuses to wear a mask or get vaccinated. This makes us an easy target.
Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and domestic terrorists are watching how events unfold here.
Vladimir Putin has a deadly arsenal at his disposal, including advanced biological weapons. We may soon have to confront him head-on if Ukraine is invaded.
Weaponized anthrax, smallpox, mycotoxins and chemical agents can all be combined to make people ill with a confusing array of symptoms. Most physicians or citizens here might not recognize such an attack until many deaths have already occurred.
Leaders who dismiss science, cripple public education and destroy public health need to be held accountable and voted out for our national security.
Steven Oscherwitz,
M.D. infectious disease
Northeast side
The Star’s stars are appreciated
Re: the Feb. 9 letter “Fitz is crown jewel of Tucson.”
A letter writer complimented the Star for David Fitzsimmons. That was well-deserved. Fitz is fabulous.
But she missed two other Star stars that I note here — columnist Tim Steller and the amazing photographer Kelly Presnell.
The three of them could operate their own “Newspaper of the Stars.”
Jeffrey Dean
Northwest side
It was a riot, not ‘discourse’
So the RNC has called the Jan. 6th riot/insurrection a “legitimate political discourse.” I can’t wait to read their version of revisionist American history where they call slaves “low-paid wage earners,” the Civil War “a glorified pillow fight” and the attack on Pearl Harbor “fun in the sun.” And let’s not forget the Nazi rampage in Europe in World War II which will probably be described as “having good people on both sides.”
John Tadlock
East side
Gowan
