DEAR EDITOR:
There is no other way to put this, Republicans are liars. I once endorsed a Republican here after losing in a Democratic primary. Those days were different and so were Republicans back then.
The lesson Republicans have learned from Wisconsin is the voting public can't tell the difference between a lie and a fact. Now Gov. Scott in Florida is applying that same lesson Gov. Walker taught in Wisconsin. Scott is calling his "voter purge" an attempt to bring integrity to the elections. It's a lie. Walker was caught on tape with his lie about union busting being the only way to balance the budget.
The video of him with the billionaire explaining how he was going to start to get rid of the unions with the budget process and using the "divide and conquer" method starting with public sector unions showed his motive. He would say it was about the budget but it wasn't about the budget. Walker tied something with universal appeal, a balanced budget, to an unrelated political or philosophical goal that could be lied about to seem like it fits in with a goal of universal appeal. Say it enough and people will end up giving you the benefit of the doubt even if you are caught in your lie. Get on Republican-friendly national news networks for free and repeat it over and over.
Now Scott is doing the same thing in Florida. Republicans do not want Democrats to vote in elections or anyone who might vote democratic especially in the electoral rich state of Florida. But how do you stop people from voting and make it seem like it's for their own good? In comes the cry of election integrity. We can purge 180,000 legal - mostly Democratic and Independent - voters under the disguise saying we're making elections more honest, when in reality they are keeping people from voting for the Republican opposition.
The legality of the purge has been challenged by the U.S. Attorney General and rightfully so. However I also believe each individual voter who gets one of those purge letters should sue the state in which they reside for lack of due process. You see, in most states and in Florida, what the state is claiming the voter is doing is a felony. The state cannot simply accuse you of a felony and take away your right to vote until you prove to the state that you are a legal citizen. That is not due process. The state must prove you are illegal and have evidence to support such a claim and take you to court and file charges against you. That is not being done for obvious reasons.
The state can't produce the evidence. Another problem is the state has already accepted you as a legal voter since the state put you on the voter list. The state should have denied your registration if the state had reason to believe you lied on your registration form. Mr. Huckabee, a former Republican residential candidate, got caught on tape telling people that if your neighbor was going to go and vote against support of Ohio SB5 union busting legislation that you should "slash their tires, be creative. Find any way to stop them from voting".
Republicans don't believe in democracy. It is clear with what they are doing and acting upon. The goal in this case is winning the election any way they can, regardless of who or what they hurt and destroy in the process.
Leif P. Damstoft
Warren